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OF  THE 

WttYERSlTY  C" 


Mrs.  Jane  Martin  Johns 


REMOTE  STORAGE 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS 


OF 


Early  Decatur 

Abraham  Lincoln 

Richard  J.  Oglesby 

and  The  Civil  War 


By  JANE  MARTIN  JOHNS 

Edited  by  HOWARD  C.  SCHAUB 


Published  by 

Decatur  Chapter  Daughters 
of  the  American  Revolution 
1912 


Copyright,  1912 

By 
JANE  MARTIN  JOHNS 


CONTENTS 


PART  ONE — EARLY   DECATUR 

PAGE 

To  Illinois  in  1849.     Pre-Railroad  Decatur II 

A  Remarkable  Legislature.    Enormous  State  Debt 15 

Hard  Times  and  Low  Prices 20 

Sheriff  Wheeler's  Ball.    A  Sewing  Bee 26 

A  Religious  Revival.    A  Carrie  Nation  Episode 30 

Railroads  Inaugurated.    Riots  and  Strikes 33 

Gay  Times  in  the  Fifties.     Charity  Ball 39 

Clouds  Followed  by  Prosperity 43 

First  Banks.     First  Decatur  Brick 47 

Manufactures  and  Commerce.     H.  Mueller 50 

First  Schools.    Special  Charter.    Mr.  Gastman 53 

PART  Two — ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

A  Man  of  Common  Mold 59 

Lincoln's  First  Political  Speech 60 

Court  Week  and  the  Piano 62 

One  Cent  Fine.     A  Story 67 

Politics   and    Principles 70 

A  Bit  of  Unwritten  History 73 

Birth  of  Republican  Party 77 

Decatur  Wigwam.     Lincoln's  Nomination 79 

A  Man  of  Sorrow  and  Acquainted  with  Grief.     An  Interesting  Jour- 
ney.   Southern  Prejudices.    Apotheosis.    A  Masterpiece  of  God..  83 

PART  THREE — RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

Early  Life.     Argonaut  and  Orator 102 

First  in  War.    Eighth  Illinois  Infantry no 

General    and    Governor 113 

Elected  Senator 121 

A   Grand   Oration 124 

Four  Other   Decatur  Generals..                                                                   .  128 


•1V591 


PART  FOUR — CIVIL  WAR 

PAGE 

Hostilities  Begin.     Patriotism  is   Born 141 

Presentation  of  Flag.     Soldiers'  Farewells 143 

More  Men  to  the  Front.    Work  for  Those  Left  Behind 146 

Hospital  Aid  Society  Organized 157 

After  the  Battle  of  Fort  Donelson 163 

Soldiers'  Families  Destitute.     Relief  Society 167 

Musical   Union 170 

Suppers  for  Soldiers.     Prisoners  of  War.- 176 

Southern  Refugees 183 

Funeral  of  Lieut.  Col.  Ansel  Tupper  and  Its  Results 188 

Letters  From  Home 189 

Call  for  600,000  Soldiers  Met  in  Full 194 

Stories  of  Flags 198 

Last  Call  for  Men.    No  Draft  for  Decatur  Township 204 

'  Active  Days.    Annual  Report  of  Aid  Society 213 

Last  Half  Year  of  Aid  Society 220 

The  State  Sanitary  Fair 224 

Springfield  and  the  Dining  Hall 236 

Worth  Living  Through 239 

SUPPLEMENT 

Report  of  Egyptian  Booth.     Long  Creek 241 

Galesburg.      Peoria 246  &  251 

APPENDIX 

Names  of  Citizens  of  Decatur  in  1839 255 

Climatic    Phenomena 258 

Rev.  N.  M.  Baker's  Story  of  Early  Days 259 


FOREWORD 


QATIONS  and  men  and  women  are  born,  run  their  course 
and  die,  but  the  records  of  their  lives  and  deeds  go  on 
either  as  a  warning  or  encouragement  to  those  who  follow 
after. 

The  Decatur  Chapter  of  the  Society  of  Daughters  American 
Revolution  was  formed  with  fifteen  charter  members,  February 
4,  1896,  at  the  home  of  Miss  Myra  Belle  Ewing,  who  was  elected 
its  first  Regent.  The  chapter  now  numbers  eighty-five  members 
with  the  following  officers : 

Regent Mrs.  Frank  P.  Roach. 

Vice  Regent Mrs.  Mary  E.  Haworth. 

Secretary Miss  Harriet  C.  Jenkins. 

Treasurer Mrs.  Henrietta  S.  McNulta 

Registrar Miss   Mary  L.  Johnson. 

Historian , Mrs.  W.  A.  Cash. 

State  Historian Mrs.  E.  L.  Pegram. 

As  stated  in  the  Constitution  the  object  of  the  organization  is : 
"To  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  spirit  of  the  men  and  women 
who  achieved  American  independence,  by  the  acquisition  and 
protection  of  historic  spots ;  by  the  erection  of  memorial  tablets 
and  monuments  ;  by  the  encouragement  of  historical  research ;  by 
the  promotion  and  celebration  of  all  patriotic  anniversaries  and  by 
the  preservation  of  documents,  relics  and  records."  The  mem- 
bers are  also  pledged  to  cherish,  maintain  and  extend  the  institu- 
tions of  America;  to  foster  true  patriotism  and  love  of  country 
and  to  aid  in  securing  for  mankind  all  belongings  of  liberty. 

While  Decatur  Chapter  has  not  distinguished  itself  by  any 
great  achievements  it  has  accomplished  some  worthy  work.  In 
June,  1905,  the  members  placed  a  large  granite  boulder  bearing  a 


6  EARLY  DECATUR 

suitably  engraved  bronze  tablet  to  mark  the  site  near  Decatur  of 
the  first  home  in  Illinois  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

In  the  year  1907  the  old  Macon  County  courthouse  where 
Abraham  Lincoln  practiced  law  was  moved  to  Fairview  Park,  re- 
built and  restored  to  its  original  condition.  It  is  now  the  Chapter 
House  of  the  Decatur  Chapter  Daughters  American  Revolution. 

In  June,  1912,  the  grave  of  William  Dickey,  a  soldier  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  who  was  buried  at  Argenta,  111.,  was  suitably 
marked  with  a  handsome  bronze  marker. 

One  great  duty  which  devolves  upon  our  organization  is  the 
collecting  and  compiling  of  local  history. 

While  taking  up  the  study  of  the  history  of  Illinois  at  one  of 
our  meetings  at  the  home  of  Miss  Carrie  Powers,  Mrs.  Jane  M. 
Johns  gave  a  reminiscence  of  Decatur  and  Macon  County  in  the 
early  days.  She  said :  "The  usefulness  and  intensity  of  life  in 
those  years  can  never  be  realized  by  the  younger  generation.  Like 
conditions  can  never  again  exist." 

This  expression  suggested  to  some  of  the  members  of  the 
chapter  the  advisability  of  asking  Mrs.  Johns  to  write  a  book  re- 
lating the  experiences  and  problems  which  confronted  the  pioneers 
of  Macon  County. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  amount  of  work  and  research  this 
entailed  upon  her,  she  has  kindly  consented  to  do  it.  Appreciat- 
ing as  we  do  the  literary  ability  of  Mrs.  Johns  and  her  marvelous 
recollections  of  the  days  that  are  no  more ;  also  realizing  how  few 
persons  we  now  have  with  us  who  lived  in  Decatur  and  Macon 
County  during  the  eventful  years  of  which  she  writes,  it  is  indeed 
with  pride  and  pleasure  that  the  Decatur  Chapter  Daughters 
American  Revolution  present  this  work  with  the  faith  that  it  will 
interest  many  readers ;  preserve  a  record  of  many  important 
events  and  add  a  valuable  chapter  of  authentic  history  to  the  rec- 
ords of  our  illustrious  state — 

"Not  without  thy  wondrous  story 

Illinois,  Illinois, 
Can  be  writ  the  nation's  glory, 

Illinois,  Illinois." 


FOREWORD  7 

What  could  be  more  fitting  than  that  the  wondrous  story  of  Illi- 
nois should  be  writ  in  chapters  by  the  old  residents  of  each  county 
and  these  chapters  be  bound  into  a  volume  that  shall  be  a  true, 
complete,  and  priceless  chronicle  of  the  events  of  the  pioneer  days 
of  our  state? 

LUCY  ELEANOR  ROANE  CASH, 

Decatur,  111.,  August,  1912. 
Historian  Decatur  Chapter  Daughters  American  Revolution. 


PREFACE 


Decatur  chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution  has,  in  pursuance  of  its  desire  to  "preserve  lo- 
cal history,"  asked  me  to  write  these  recollections. 

Though  rather  a  serious  undertaking  for  a  woman  of  eighty- 
five  years,  I  commenced  the  work,  little  dreaming  of  the  magni- 
tude it  would  eventually  assume. 

My  intention  has  been,  not  to  write  a  history,  but  to  tell  a 
story,  in  a  form  that  will  incite  this  generation  to  an  interest  in, 
and  a  study  of,  the  most  interesting  and  important  period  in  the 
history  of  our  nation. 

My  chief  purpose  was  to  chronicle  the  magnificent  work  of 
the  women  of  the  county  during  the  Civil  war,  but  my  story,  al- 
most unconsciously,  grew  into  a  record  of  Decatur's  part  in  that 
history-making  epoch. 

We  are  in  danger  of  losing  the  true  inwardness  of  the  soul- 
stirring  times,  when  the  life  of  the  nation  was  in  peril.  It  has 
proved  almost  impossible  to  secure  reliable  statistics  of  local 
events.  No  files  of  local  newspapers  dealing  with  that  period 
have  been  preserved,  and  soldiers  do  not  seem  to  have  been  able  to 
bring  back  with  them  letters  from  home.  The  great  majority  of 
those  who  were  personally  identified  with  the  stirring  scenes  of 
the  time  have  passed  away,  while  from  those  who  remain  only 
dim  recollections,  of  a  trifle  here  and  a  trifle  there,  have  been  of 
any  value. 

My  memory  has  been  like  a  storehouse  of  those  little  Japanese 
cones  which,  when  touched  with  fire,  begin  to  unroll  layer  after 
layer  of  beautiful,  irridescent,  snake-like  coils.  An  indistinct,  col- 
orless recollection,  when  fired  by  the  mention  of  some  trifling 
event,  or  the  name  of  a  friend,  long  since  dead  and  almost  forgot- 


PREFACE  9 

ten,  unrolls  a  coil  of  memories,  distinct  and  forceful.  Then, 
when  I  go  to  history  to  prove  it  is  not  all  an  illusion,  lo !  other 
cones  are  fired,  and  the  indistinct  memories  grow  into  mountains 
of  long  sought  for  facts. 

These  papers  do  not  aspire  to  the  dignity  of  history,  but  I 
have  tried,  by  painstaking  research  of  records,  and  the  assistance 
of  old  letters  and  papers,  to  recall  and  chronicle  not  only  the 
events  of  the  times,  but  their  causes  and  effects. 

In  order  to  give  these  papers  any  historical  value  I  have  been 
obliged  to  supplement  my  personal  reminiscences  with  a  good 
deal  of  legislative  and  political  history,  for  most  of  which  I  am 
indebted  to  "Illinois,  Historical  and  Statistical,"  by  John  Moses. 

I  have  quoted  largely  from  a  "History  of  Macon  County,"  by 
John  Smith,  a  former  resident  of  Decatur.  Some  extracts  from 
that  book  will  also  appear  in  the  appendix  to  this  work,  as  a 
means  of  perpetuating  valuable  and  interesting  history  of  early 
times,  which  is  in  danger  of  being  lost.  Mr.  Smith's  book  is  out 
of  print  and  is  already  becoming  very  rare. 

'She  secretary's  book  of  the  old  Hospital  Aid  Society  has  been 
placed  at  my  disposal,  but  the  records  are  so  meagre  that  they 
have  only  served  to  fire  my  memory  of  the  thrilling  events  which 
they  so  slightly  record. 

My  manuscript  looks  to  me  like  a  mass  of  quotations,  for  when 
ever  I  have  found  that  some  one  else  has  told  the  tale  I  wish  to 
tell,  in  better  language  than  I  can  command,  I  have  quoted.  Moses, 
Logan,  Moore,  Wilkie,  Smith,  The  Decatur  Review  and  The  De- 
catur Herald  have  all  reinforced  my  memory  and  added  to  the 
quotation  marks,  but  I  find  that  in  many  instances  I  have  so  cut 
and  adapted  their  language  that  it  is  no  longer  either  theirs  or 
mine. 

To  Mr.  Howard  C.  Schaub,  who  has  kindly  consented  to  edit 
these  papers,  I  am  under  many  obligations  for  assistance  and  ad- 
vice. 

The  Decatur  Review's  catalog  record  of  events  has  proved  of 
incalculable  value  in  securing  dates  of  importance,  and  I  wish  to 
thank  the  management  for  giving  me  free  access  to  it. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  eliminate  the  personal  note  from 


io  EARLY  DECATUR 

these  recollections  without  destroying  their  vitality  and  I  ask  the 
readers  to  kindly  overlook  the  seeming  egotism. 

The  task  imposed  upon  me  by  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution  has  proved  an  absorbing  and  delightful  one,  and  if  by 
my  efforts  I  can  add  a  few  dollars  to  the  Decatur  and  Macbn 
County  Hospital  fund,  I  shall  feel  amply  repaid  for  my  work. 

J.  M.  J. 


PART  FIRST-EARLY  DECATUR 

"Around  the  bowl  of  vanished  years, 

We  talk  with  joyous  seeming, 
With  smiles  that  might  as  well  be  tears, 

So  faint,  so  sad  their  beaming."  — Moore. 


CHAPTER  I 
To  ILLINOIS  IN  1849 

On  May  16,  1849,  Mr.  Andrew  Huston  and  Dr.  H.  C.  Johns 
left  Circleville,  Ohio,  in  a  two  horse  buggy  on  a  journey  of  ex- 
ploration to  the  far  west  in  search  of  health,  fortune  and  a  new 
location.  They  made  their  first  stop  at  Lafayette,  Indiana,  where 
Dr.  Johns  decided  he  "would  probably  make  his  future  home." 
They  decided,  however,  to  extend  their  trip  to  Piatt  County, 
Illinois,  where  Dr.  Peter  Hull  had  invited  them  to  "hunt  deer." 

In  some  way  their  route  took  them  to  Springfield,  Illinois, 
where  they  separated,  Dr.  Johns  buying  a  new  one  horse  buggy 
and  Mr.  Huston  taking  the  old  rig  and  one  horse  to  Chicago, 
where  he  "traded  them  for  eighty  acres  of  sand  and  swamp,  near 
Chicago,"  and  returned  to  Circleville,  via  the  lakes.  Mr.  Huston 
had  almost  forgotten  that  he  owned  that  land,  (of  so  little  value 
did  he  consider  it)  when  ten  years  later  he  was  surprised  at 
receiving  an  offer  of,  I  have  forgotten  how  many  hundred  dollars 
an  acre,  for  his  "Chicago  property."  The  Douglas  monument 
now  stands  on  that  eighty  acres. 

Meantime  Dr.  Johns  with  his  fine  blooded  horse  and  new 
buggy  started  from  Springfield  for  Piatt  County  and  his  "deer 
hunt."  When  about  ten  niiles  from  Decatur  his  horse  frightened 
at  a  peddler's  big  red  wagon,  ran  away,  threw  him  from  the 


12  EARLY  DECATUR 

buggy  and  broke  his  collar  bone.  He  was  taken  by  the  peddler 
to  the  cabin  of  Mr.  Dingman  where  he  was  kindly  cared  for 
until  Dr.  Joseph  King  could  be  sent  for  to  dress  his  wounds. 
He  then  became  a  guest  of  Mother  Krone  at  the  Macon  House 
in  Decatur,  for  three  weeks,  after  which  he  became  the  guest 
of  Dr.  Peter  Hull  for  three  other  weeks.  Dr.  Hull  was  anxious 
to  sell  his  farm  of  sixteen  hundred  acres  and  represented  its  ad- 
vantages to  Dr.  Johns  in  such  favorable  light  that  a  trade  was 
soon  made,  and  Dr.  Johns  became  the  owner  of  "The  Farms," 
now  owned  by  the  Allertons  of  Chicago. 

My  opposition  to  living  in  the  "God  forsaken  state  of  Illinois" 
was  overcome  by  the  promise  that  in  five  years  we  would  be  so 
rich  off  the  product  of  young  cattle,  fattened  on  the  prairies 
without  money  and  without  price,  that  I  could  live  anywhere 
I  pleased. 

We  came  west  by  river  and  canal  to  Lafayette,  where  we 
bought  a  two  horse  wagon  with  a  hoop  top  and  journeyed  to  De- 
catur by  slow  stages,  sometimes  camping  out,  but  oftener  being 
the  recipients  of  the  generous  hospitality  of  the  scattered  settlers. 

It  was  October  and  the  boundless  prairies  were  gay  with  the 
purple  and  yellow  of  the  wild  flowers,  and  except  for  the 
"slews,"  we  had  an  enchanting  journey.  But  the  slews!  Bot- 
tomless mud  for  hundreds  of  yards,  where  the  combined  efforts 
of  two  stout  horses  assisted  by  two  strong  men  with  rails  (we 
had  to  carry  the  rails  with  us)  as  levers  to  lift  the  wheels  out 
of  the  mire,  sometimes  required  hours  of  hard  labor  to  cross. 
The  prairies,  however,  were  so  vast,  so  beautiful,  so  alluring, 
that  I  became  reconciled  to  five  years  of  exile  in  which  to  en- 
joy them. 

At  the  Macon  House  a  few  days  after  my  arrival  I  met  a 
peddler  who  said  he  wanted  to  bring  his  old  New  England  father 
to  this  country  just  once,  so  that  he  would  not  be  so  much  taken 
by  surprise  when  he  went  to  heaven. 

We  came  into  Decatur  by  the  William  Street  road,  and  when 
I  saw  the  beautiful  hill,  crowned  with  lofty  forest,  just  east  of 
the  town,  I  exclaimed,  "I  will  consent  to  live  in  Illinois  if  I  can 
live  on  that  hill."  That  hill  has  been  my  home  for  over  sixty 


To  ILLINOIS  IN  1849  J3 

years  and  from  it  I  have  watched  Decatur  grow  from  a  small 
village  of  four  hundred  inhabitants  to  a  beautiful  and  prosper- 
ous city  of  whose  record  we  may  well  be  proud. 

I  do  not  expect  in  any  sense  to  write  a  history  of  Decatur, 
yet,  to  make  my  recollections  of  early  days  of  any  value,  I  must 
indulge  in  some  historical  reminiscences. 

The  "after  the  war"  history  of  Decatur  will  doubtless  be 
written  later  by  some  more  competent  hand,  and  I  will  confine 
my  story  to  the  time  between  1849  and  J865,  a  story  which  there 
will  soon  be  no  living  man  to  recount. 


CHAPTER  II 
DECATUR  BEFORE  1849 

On  the  first  day  of  June,  1829,  a  commission,  appointed  by 
the  legislature  of  Illinois,  "to  locate  and  to  lay  off  a  seat  of  jus- 
tice" for  the  new  county  of  Macon,  proceeded  to  fulfill  its  mis- 
sion, and  the  town  of  Decatur  was  "laid  off  after  the  form  of 
Shelbyville,"  as  required.  The  site  selected  contained  twenty 
acres.  This  land  was  still  owned  by  the  United  States  govern- 
ment, but  was  afterwards  entered  by  three  citizens  of  the  town 
and  a  deed  made  to  the  county  in  1831.  The  boundaries  of  the 
old  town  were  Prairie  street  on  the  north,  Water  street  on  the 
east,  Wood  street  on  the  south  and  Church  street  on  the  west, 
with  North  and  South  Main  and  East  and  West  Main  dividing 
the  town  into  four  squares.  At  their  intersection  a  plat  was  laid 
off  for  a  court  house  square. 

The  first  court  house  was  built  of  logs,  but  was  supplanted  in 
1838  by  a  new  building.  It  is  thus  described  by  Mr.  Robert  R. 
Montgomery,  who  is  a  native  Decaturian: 

The  court  house  stood  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Lincoln  square. 
It  was  built  of  brick  and  was  about  forty  feet  square  and  two  stories  high, 
with  roof  sloping  up  from  all  sides  to  a  cupola  built  in  the  center.  The 
front  door  was  on  the  north  side  and  opened  into  a  hallway,  on  either 
side  of  which  were  the  officers  of  the  court.  At  the  south  end  there  was 
a  stairway  leading  to  the  second  floor  on  which  was  the  court  room.  A 
stairway  from  the  second  floor  led  up  to  the  cupola.  Around  the  cupola 
there  was  a  platform  with  a  railing  enclosing  it.  From  this  point  there 
was  a  fine  outlook  over  the  town  and  country. 

The  court  house  square  was  used  for  years  as  a  wagon  yard 
and  camping  ground  for  the  teams  of  farmers,  who  came  to  town 
on  business.  Owners  of  property,  fronting  on  the  square,  ser- 
iously opposed  any  restrictions  of  these  privileges. 

When  I  came  to  Decatur,  in  1849,  it  was  a  village  of  a  few 
hundred  inhabitants  which  showed  all  the  marks  and  scars  of 
an  abandoned  effort  to  build  a  city.  Two  large  frame  buildings, 

14 


A  REMARKABLE  LEGISLATURE  15 

evidently  intended  for  hotels,  stood  unfinished  and  unoccupied, 
one  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Central  Park  and  one  on  the 
corner  of  West  Main  and  Edward  streets.  In  every  direction, 
radiating  from  the  court  house  square,  streets  were  laid  out  and 
'lots  staked  off,  with  an  occasional  half-finished  foundation  for 
a  building. 

I  found  great  difficulty  in  getting  any  reasonable  account  of 
this  state  of  affairs.  I  could  find  no  old  citizen  who  knew  its 
history.  That  happened,  or,  this  was  done,  "when  the  railroad 
was  surveyed  through  Decatur."  What  railroad  or  by  whom 
surveyed,  no  one  seemed  able  to  answer,  so  I  went  to  work  to 
hunt  for  local  history  in  state  records,  and  found  the  solution 
of  my  problem  so  interesting  that  I  will  give  a  synopsis  of  my 
researches  for  the  benefit  of  my  readers. 

In  1836  the  Tenth  general  assembly  of  Illinois  was  convened 
in  Vandalia.  This  legislature  was,  probably,  in  its  personnel, 
the  most  remarkable  body  of  law-makers  ever  assembled  in  this 
or,  perhaps,  in  any  other  state.  Among  its  members  was  a  future 
president  of  the  United  States  (Lincoln)  ;  a  defeated  candidate 
for  the  same  high  office  (Douglas)  ;  six  future  United  States 
senators  (Ewing,  Edwards,  Shields,  Breese,  Browning  and  Doug- 
las) ;  eight  men  who  represented  at  various  times  the  state  of 
Illinois  in  the  national  house  of  representatives ;  three  who  were 
afterwards  judges  of  the  state  supreme  court;  one  who  was  a 
member  of  the  cabinet  of  President  Johnson  (Browning)  ;  seven 
future  state  officers,  and  two  generals  of  the  Union  army. 

John  Logan,  father  of  General  John  A.  Logan,  and  Richard 
Cullom,  father  of  Senator  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  were  also  members 
of  this  remarkable  body.  Nine  men  who  represented  Sangamon 
county,  and  who,  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  as  their  chairman,  engi- 
neered the  removal  of  the  state  capital  from  Vandalia  to  Spring- 
field, were  as  remarkable  for  their  stature  as  for  their  mental 
ability.  Their  combined  height  was  fifty-four  feet,  an  average 
of  six  feet  each.  For  this  reason  they  were  then  and  have  ever 
since  been  spoken  of  as  the  "long  nine."  This  nine  held  the  bal- 
ance of  power  in  the  assembly  and  virtually  dictated  all  legisla- 
tion by  voting  solidly  for  or  against  any  measure,  as  the  vote 


1 6  EARLY  DECATUR 

could  be  used  to  influence  the  selection  of  Springfield  as  the  fu- 
ture capital  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  William  T.  Elkin,  the  father  of  Mrs.  E.  A.  Jones  and  the 
grandfather  of  Mrs.  Theron  Powers,  was  one  of  this  famous 
nine,  and  was  ever  after  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  most  trusted 
friends. 

This  legislature  was  not  only  distinguished  by  the  remarkable 
personality  of  its  members  but  was  even  more  conspicuous  be- 
cause of  the  importance  of  its  legislation.  The  capital  of  the 
state  was  removed  from  Vandalia  to  Springfield,  and  an  internal 
improvement  bill  was  passed  which  appropriated  $10,600,000  for 
the  building  of  seven  state-wide  railroads,  to  be  financed,  built, 
owned  and  operated  by  the  state,  the  theory  upon  which  they  were 
to  be  built  being  that  these  great  highways  of  commerce  could  be 
legislated  into  existence,  with  the  credit  of  the  state  as  their  only 
capital. 

A  fund  commission  was  appointed,  clothed  with  power  to  ne- 
gotiate loans,  and  the  honor  of  the  state  was  pledged  for  their 
payment.  Money  was  borrowed  at  ruinous  rates,  and  the  survey 
of  routes  for  the  various  railroads  was  begun. 

"An  unprecedented  era  of  speculation  followed  which  devel- 
oped into  a  mania.  Reason  was  dethroned  and  the  folly  of  in- 
flation held  high  carnival.  Towns  sprung  up  in  a  night  and  cities 
in  a  day,  on  paper,  each  of  which  was  destined  to  become  the  me- 
tropolis of  a  dense  population."  The  establishment  of  the  capital 
at  Springfield  and  the  converging  of  the  proposed  railroads  in  the 
vicinity  made  central  Illinois  a  prominent  factor  in  this  scheme  of 
improvement. 

Decatur  was  then,  as  now,  in  the  estimation  of  those  most  in- 
terested, the  center  from  which  was  to  radiate  the  entire  system 
of  transportation  which  would  make  Illinois  the  granary  of  the 
world.  Preliminary  surveys  were  made  for  at  least  three  rail- 
roads through  Decatur.  Owners  of  real  estate  in  the  vicinity  ex- 
ploited and  laid  out  additions  and  built  hotels,  each  of  which  was 
expected  to  be  the  center  of  rival  interests. 

Captain  David  Allen  was  one  of  the  first  men  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  expected  greatness  of  the  new  railroad  center.  He 


DECATUR  BEFORE  1849  J7 

owned  land  adjoining  the  original  town,  and  with  wisdom  and 
foresight,  rather  unusual  in  those  days,  donated  to  the  city  a 
piece  of  land  which  is  now  Central  Park,  and  platted  the  remain- 
der of  this  land  north  and  east  of  the  proposed  park.  His  brother- 
in-law,  Dr.  Thomas  H.  Read,  became  his  partner  in  this  venture 
and  either  they,  or  parties  to  whom  they  sold  lots,  imported  brick 
and  built  a  hotel,  which  was  called  the  Macon  House  (afterwards 
the  Revere)  and  a  row  of  houses  facing  the  park,  fronting  on 
Franklin  street.  These  houses  were  built  for  business  purposes 
with  residences  on  the  second  floor.  Mr.  J.  J.  Peddecord's  house, 
just  north  of  the  Macon  House,  was  for  many  years  the  finest 
house  in  the  city. 

Dr.  Joseph  King,  who  had  married  Marietta  Packard,  built  a 
substantial  two  story  frame  house  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Edward  and  William  streets,  which  was  afterwards  bought  by 
Mr.  Joseph  White  and  presented  to  his  daughter,  Anna,  when  she 
was  married  to  Richard  J.  Oglesby.  In  this  house  Mr.  Oglesby 
lived  when  he  was  elected  governor.  It  stood  until  within  a  few 
years  as  the  rear  wing  of  his  later  home,  now  owned  and  occupied 
by  Mr.  James  E.  Bering.  In  this  old  home  there  have  been  enter- 
tained many  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  country.  Lin- 
coln, Grant  and  Logan  were  frequent  visitors  of  Governor  Ogles- 
by, who  always  entertained  with  generous  hospitality. 

Captain  Allen,  who  came  to  Decatur  in  the  fall  of  1828,  had 
entered  from  the  government  a  quarter  section  of  land,  of  which 
Water  street  is  now  the  western  and  East  Main  the  southern 
boundaries.  A  log  cabin,  built  by  a  "squatter,"  stood  where  the 
Wilson  furniture  store  building  now  stands,  to  which  Captain  Al- 
len built  a  two  story  frame  addition,  which  was  considered  a  pala- 
tial mansion  for  many  years.  To  this  home,  in  1830,  he  brought 
a  bride  from  Tennessee.  They  came  all  the  way  on  horseback. 
After  Mrs.  Allen  mounted  her  horse  and  bade  farewell  to  her  old 
home  a  brother  cut  a  twig  from  a  weeping  willow  tree  which 
stood  by  the  well,  and  handed  it  to  her  to  use  as  a  riding  whip. 
She  carried  it  to  Decatur,  where  she  stuck  it  in  the  ground  "near 
Hie  well"  of  her  new  home,  and  it  grew  into  a  magnificent  tree, 


1 8  EARLY  DECATUR 

which  for  years  was  the  beauty  spot  and  principal  ornament  of 
Captain  Allen's  lawn. 

This  tree  was  cut  down  after  Captain  Allen  moved  from  his 
old  place  in  1866.  The  stump  was  over  three  feet  in  diameter  and 
its  drooping  branches  had  formed  an  arbor,  under  which  always 
stood  a  table  and  a  few  chairs,  where  Mrs.  Allen  dispensed  an  old- 
fashioned  hospitality  which  never  allowed  a  casual  caller  to  say 
goodbye  until  refreshments  had  been  offered.  A  glass  of  home- 
made current  wine  or  raspberry  or  blackberry  cordial,  with  a  few 
cookies  or  doughnuts,  if  not  a  piece  of  pound  cake  or  rich  fruit 
cake,  was  an  indispensable  attention  offered  every  caller  at  this 
hospitable  home. 

The  Baptist  church  was  organized  in  Captain  Allen's  parlor 
and  for  many  years  all  the  services  were  held  there.  For  forty 
years  Mrs.  Allen  held  a  "female  prayer  meeting"  every  Wednes- 
day afternoon,  either  in  her  parlor  or  under  the  sheltering  branch- 
es of  the  willow  tree.  If  no  other  worshiper  came,  this  good  woman 
held  prayer  meeting  alone,  though  she  preferred  that  "two  or 
three  should  meet  together  in  His  name." 

Decatur's  first  boom  was  suddenly  brought  to  an  end  by  the 
suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  throughout  the 
United  States.  There  was  pandemonium  in  the  money  market; 
yet  the  infatuation  of  the  speculators  was  so  great  that  the  legis- 
lature, at  a  called  session,  refused  to  repeal  the  internal  improve- 
ment act,  and  the  fund  commission  under  the  law  continued  bor- 
rowing money  and  selling  bonds  at  ruinous  rates,  until  the  debt 
of  the  state  of  Illinois,  which  in  1836  was  $217,276,  had  grown  by 
December  2,  1839,  to  $13,643,601. 

The  ruinous  policy  of  simultaneously  commencing  all  the  pro- 
posed roads  and  constructing  them  in  detached  piece-meals,  had 
left  the  state  with  virtually  nothing  to  show  for  this  vast  expendi- 
ture. 

"When  the  people  awoke  from  their  dream  of  fancied  prosper- 
ity to  find  themselves  staggering  under  the  burden  of  a  colossal 
public  debt,  when  they  saw  their  hopes  shattered  and  financial 
ruin  staring  them  in  the  face,  they  looked  back  upon  their  former 


DECATUR  BEFORE  1849  19 

infatuation  with  incredulous  amazement."     A  panic  seized  both 
the  legislature  and  the  people. 

The  governor  called  a  special  session  of  the  legislature  and 
laws  were  passed  which  practically  abrogated  the  entire  system  of 
public  improvements.  "The  precipitate  rashness  with  which  the 
stupendous  work  originated  was  only  equaled  by  the  undue  haste 
and  anxiety  in  disposing  of  the  property,  both  real  and  personal, 
which  was  left  from  the  general  ruin." 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  LIVES 

The  bursting  of  this  bubble  left  Decatur  in  a  slough  of  de- 
spond. For  years  no  new  people  came  in,  and  as  many  of  the 
residents  as  could  get  away  were  seized  with  the  gold  hunting  ma- 
nia and  took  the  trail  for  California.  David  Allen,  Dr.  Read,  the 
Powers  brothers,  Sawyers,  Jasper  Peddecofd,  Berry  Cassell,  the 
Packards,  Dr.  King,  E.  O.  Smith,  Stamper  and  Condell  and  a 
few  other  braves  held  the  fort,  principally  because  the  fort  held 
all  they  had,  and  they  could  not  get  away  from  it.  And  so  for  ten 
years  Decatur  remained  in  "statu  quo." 

Business  of  all  kinds  was  seriously  affected,  indeed  almost 
annihilated,  by  the  financial  panic.  There  was  no  money  in  cir- 
culation. Letters  from  friends  sometimes  remained  in  the  post- 
office  for  weeks,  for  want  of  the  25  cents  required  to  pay  the 
postage.  Men  hauled  their  wheat  to  Chicago  or  St.  Louis  in 
wagons  drawn  by  oxen  over  roads  that  did  not  deserve  the  name 
of  cart  ways,  and  when  they  arrived  at  their  destination,  could 
not  get  enough  for  a  bushel  of  wheat  to  buy  a  yard  of  calico. 

The  state  bank  issued  no  bills  of  less  denomination  than  $5  and 
there  were  so  few  transactions  requiring  that  amount  of  capital 
that  the  sight  of  a  $5  bill  was  said  to  be  "good  for  sore  eyes." 
Commodities  for  sale  were  quoted  in  the  vernacular  as  worth  a 
bit  (i2l/2c),  two  bits  or  four  bits,  Mexican  silver  being  almost  the 
only  money  in  circulation.  A  cow,  giving  a  "right  smart  sprink- 
ling of  milk,"  could  be  bought  for  $6;  pork  sold  for  $1.25  a  hun- 
dred net,  and  beef,  in  the  quarter,  at  a  cent  and  a  half  a  pound. 

"It  required  forty  pounds  of  butter  to  buy  an  eight-yard  calico 
dress  pattern.  Twenty-five  dozen  eggs  would  only  purchase  $i 
worth  of  coffee.  It  took  ten  bushels  of  corn  to  get  eight  pounds 
of  sugar  and  the  hog  had  to  be  a  large  one  that  would  buy  a  pair 
of  boots." 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  LIVES  21 

We  paid  for  two  rooms  with  board  for  two  children,  a  nurse, 
and  myself,  $8  a  week,  with  25  cents  a  day  extra  when  my  hus- 
band was  at  home,  and  we  were  supposed  to  be  paying  exorbitant 
rates  because  of  superior  accommodations. 

No  better  characterization  of  the  people  of  Macon  county,  as 
I  knew  them  in  1849,  could  be  given  than  that  in  Smith's  History, 
from  which  I  freely  quote : 

For  true  and  genuine  hospitality  these  pioneers  were  remarkable.  Kind 
treatment  of  strangers,  as  well  as  acquaintances  and  neighbors,  was  univer- 
sal. To  charge  a  stranger  for  a  meal  or  a  night's  lodging  was  an  act  of 
gross  impropriety  not  to  be  tolerated.  In  neighborliness  they  were  almost 
communistic.  To  divide,  they  were  always  willing.  The  tools  of  any  man 
were  almost  property  in  common ;  to  refuse  to  lend  any  article  of  personal 
property  was  an  act  of  hostility  that  the  whole  neighborhood  resented.  They 
did  not  all  drink,  but  among  those  who  did,  a  refusal  to  drink  with  a  friend 
was  the  unkindest  cut  of  all.  It  was  an  act  of  social  ostracism. 

Twenty  miles  was  a  short  distance  to  ride  over  bad  roads  to  see  a  sick 
neighbor.  It  was  never  too  cold  or  wet  to  lend  assistance  to  the  needy.  If, 
by  reason  of  sickness  or  misfortune,  a  man  was  unable  to  plant  or  care  for 
his  crops  his  neighbors  turned  in  and  did  it  for  him. 

Another  characteristic  of  these  primitive  people  was  the  confidence  re- 
posed in  each  other,  in  their  promises  and  business  relations.  It  is  true 
their  contracts  were  few  and  simple,  but  there  was  usually  implicit  confi- 
dence reposed  in  the  honor  and  integrity  of  those  with  whom  they  dealt.  A 
man's  promise  on  his  honor  was  sure  to  be  met  no  matter  what  sacrifice 
was  required.  His  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond,  if  the  last  cow  or  hog 
had  to  be  given  up  to  make  it  so.  Promissory  notes  were  sometimes  given, 
but  the  person  required  to  give  it  felt  it  as  a  slight  reflection  on  his  integ- 
rity and  always  breathed  freer  when  he  had  borrowed  the  money  from  a 
neighbor  and  got  his  name  off  that  note. 

Yet  they  were  always  quick  to  resent  a  real  or  imaginary  wrong  or 
insult.  They  were  always  ready  for  a  fight.  The  court  dockets  show  that 
legal  contests  were  never  distasteful.  Not  the  amounts  involved,  but  the 
wrong  to  be  righted,  determined  whether  they  would  resort  to  litigation  or 
not.  Slander  suits  were  quite  common.  Of  the  four  suits  brought  at  the 
first  term  of  the  Macon  County  circuit  court,  two  were  for  slander  and  of 
the  six  at  the  next  term,  four  were  for  the  same  thing. 

On  muster  days,  holidays  and  Saturdays,  it  was  expected  that  there 
would  be  three  or  four  fights  in  the  vicinity  of  Johnson's  grocery  (as  a  sa- 
loon was  called  in  those  days),  but  there  was  none  of  the  reckless  use  of 
knives  or  pistols,  which  so  often  disgraces  frontier  settlements.  Quarrels 
were  settled  in  the  fisticuff  style,  and  the  fellow  that  was  beaten  said  so 
and  they  quit,  shook  hands  and  were  friends  again.  Those  who  were  privi- 
leged by  reason  of  opportunity  to  see  the  fight, — and  there  was  always  a 
goodly  number  of  spectators, — exerted  themselves,  not  to  part  the  combat- 
ants, but  to  see  that  they  had  a  fair  fight. 

Sunday  mornings  everybody  went  to  church,  that  is  everybody 
but  the  housewife,  who  stayed  at  home  to  prepare  dinner  for  her 


22  EARLY  DECATUR 

country  neighbors  and  friends.  Once  in  two  weeks  the  "circuit 
rider"  held  services  in  the  Methodist  church,  which  stood  on  the 
back  part  of  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association. 

The  church  was  the  first  Methodist  church  built  in  Macon 
county.  It  was  a  frame  building  about  thirty-eight  by  forty  feet 
in  size.  At  that  time  the  congregation  was  in  charge  of  Rev. 
Moses  Clampitt.  The  church  stood  on  Church  street  near  Prairie 
avenue.  The  lot  was  donated  by  James  Renshaw. 

The  building  was  used  several  years  in  an  unfinished  state,  but 
in  1839,  by  special  effort,  it  was  finished  and  seated.  As  N.  L. 
Krone  remembers  it,  the  church  was  built  of  hewn  oak  timbers. 
Two  sides  were  weatherboarded  with  walnut.  The  other  two 
sides  were  of  oak  clapboards. 

There  were  no  walks  but  several  paths  led  from  the  street  to 
the  building,  which  was  set  in  dense  hazel  brush  about  ten  feet 
back  from  Church  street. 

The  interior  of  the  church  was  plastered,  but  the  walls  were 
not  painted  or  decorated.  There  were  two  rows  of  seats,  with  one 
aisle  in  the  center,  the  men  sitting  on  the  north  side  and  the 
women  on  the  south. 

Placed  in  the  center  of  the  room,  in  the  main  aisle,  which  was 
four  to  four  and  a  half  feet  wide,  was  a  large  wood  heating  stove. 
The  church  was  lighted  by  candles.  In  the  center  was  a  chande- 
lier, said  to  have  been  a  wagon  wheel,  holding  twelve  candles.  On 
each  side  wall  were  four  candles  in  tin  candlesticks. 

There  was  no  organ  and  no  choir.  The  minister  read  two  lines 
of  a  hymn  and  the  congregation  sang  them.  Then  the  minister 
read  two  more  lines,  etc. 

When  the  new  brick  church  on  the  corner  of  Prairie  avenue 
and  Water  street,  was  built,  the  old  church  was  used  for  years 
as  a  carpenter  and  wagon  making  shop.  In  1862,  it  was  rented  by 
the  Hospital  Aid  Society,  and  about  forty  refugees  from  the  south 
were  housed  in  it  for  several  months.  The  "Brick  Church"  was 
built  in  1853,  at  a  cost  of  $10,000,  and  was  dedicated  in  1854,  by 
the  Rev.  Jonathan  Stamper.  This  church  was  heated  by  a  fur- 
nace, the  first  in  Decatur. 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  LIVES  23 

The  Baptists  had  a  regular  pastor,  and  church  services  and 
Sunday  school  were  held  every  Sunday  in  one  of  the  store  build- 
ings on  Franklin  street.  The  Christian  church,  which  was  then 
called  "Campbellite,"  met  in  a  log  building  on  Wood  street  near 
State,  which  for  years  after  was  occupied  by  Samuel  Powers  as  a 
breeding  stable  for  fine  horses. 

A  Presbyterian  church  was  organized  in  the  house  of  Samuel 
Powers,  en  the  first  day  of  May,  1852.  There  were  ten  members, 
five  of  whom  were  members  of  the  family  of  David  Hopkins,  who 
was  the  first  elder.  Two  others  were  Robert  Maffit  and  wife, 
the  parents  of  D.  A.  Maffit.  These  Presbyterians  first  worshiped 
in  the  court  house,  then  in  the  Masonic  hall  on  the  corner  of  Wa- 
ter and  Park  streets. 

In  1856  a  brick  church  was  built  on  Prairie  street  on  a  lot  now 
occupied  by  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  For  a  year 
the  basement  only  was  used  for  worship,  but  in  its  unfinished 
state  the  upper  room  was  frequently  used  for  social  entertain- 
ments. 

A  very  successful  festival  had  been  held  one  evening  in  the 
unfinished  church.  After  supper,  it  was  discovered  that  there  was 
a  surplus  of  all  kinds  of  provisions  which  had  not  been  consumed. 
Mr.  Thomas  Lewis,  the  new  banker  and  elder  of  the  church,  pro- 
posed himself  as  auctioneer,  offering  to  sell  everything  that  was 
left.  He  mounted  a  table,  and  selecting  a  small  cake,  iced  and 
adorned  with  pink  sugar,  began  the  auction. 

"Who  bids  for  this  beautiful  and  delicious  pink  cake?" 

The  bidding  was  not  very  lively,  but  Mr.  Lewis  made  many 
witty  remarks  and  soon  had  the  entire  assembly  standing  around 
him.  He  began : 

"I  see  Mrs. nodding.    She  bids  me  50  cents.    Oh  yes ! 

Mrs.  ,  that's  right;  $i.     Now  gentlemen,  don't  let  a  lady 

beat  you  out  of  this  stupendous  bargain.  That's  right,  Mr.  Wood, 
two  dollars, — going — going,  oh !  I  knew  some  one  would  come  to 
the  rescue.  A  lady  bids  five  dollars  for  Mr.  A.  T.  Hill.  Going — 
going — gone.  Mr.  Hill  has  the  cake  for  five  dollars." 

The  auction  proceeded  in  this  manner  for  sometime,  Mr.  Lew- 
is knocking  down  cakes  and  pies  to  suppositious  bidders,  mostly 


24  EARLY  DECATUR 

bachelors,  who  took  the  joke  and  paid  for  the  goods  with  apparent 
good  nature.  After  a  good  deal  of  that  kind  of  bidding,  a  small 
ginger  cake  was  held  up. 

"Who  bids  for  this  delicious  ginger  bread?"  and  quick  as 
lightning  a  lady  in  the  audience  cried  out : 

"Five  dollars  for  Mr.  Lewis,"  and  amid  shouts  of  laughter, 
Mr.  Lewis  paid  his  $5  and  took  the  cake. 

About  two  weeks  after  the  auction,  the  lady  who  had  bid  the 
"$5  for  Mr.  Lewis,"  was  called  to  her  door  to  receive  a  goods 
box  about  four  feet  square,  which  had  arrived  at  the  express  of- 
fice and  had  been  sent  to  her  on  a  dray.  The  box  had  Springfield 
and  Bloomington  express  tags  and  the  express  charges  were  $3.85 
and  drayage  25  cents. 

Mrs. refused  to  receive  the  box  and  the  drayman  took 

it  back  to  the  express  office,  making  another  charge  of  25  cents. 
The  box  had  actually  been  sent  to  both  Springfield  and  Bloom- 
ington and  the  express  charges  were  genuine. 

In  the  end,  which  did  not  come  for  some  time,  Mr.  Lewis  paid 
$3.85  express  charges  and  50  cents  drayage  and  burned  the  box. 
It  was  reported  that  in  addition  to  those  charges,  he  had  paid  50 
cents  to  a  young  dry  goods  clerk  for  packing  a  small  ginger  bread 
in  the  middle  of  a  big  box  of  waste  paper. 

A  Catholic  church  was  built  on  West  Main  street  in  1854,  but 
St.  Patrick's,  on  the  corner  of  North  and  Jackson  streets,  was 
built  in  1863  and  was  at  the  time  the  most  costly  church  edifice 
in  the  county. 

Rev.  D.  P.  Bunn  in  1854  established  a  Universalist  society, 
and  in  1856,  St.  John's  Episcopal  church  was  organized  by  Wil- 
liam Prather  and  Cyril  Fuller.  • 

There  was  also  an  African  Methodist  church  with  fourteen 
members,  which  indicates  a  remarkable  increase  of  colored  popu- 
lation. In  1850  there  was  only  one  negro  in  Macon  county.  He 
lived  alone  in  a  hut  near  Rea's  bridge  and  his  name  was  used  as  a 
scarecrow  for  naughty  children. 

There  was  not  much  of  the  brotherly  love  which  is  now  fos- 
tered by  Christian  Endeavor  and  kindred  societies. 

Denominational   feeling   was   strong,   even   bitter,   often   af- 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  LIVES  25 

fecting  social  relations.  But  Sunday,  after  church,  was  a  social 
holiday.  Wagon  loads  of  country  people  went  home  with  their 
town  friends  to  dinner.  The  men  discussed  crops  and  horse 
trades  and  the  women  compared  experiences  with  the  dye  pot 
and  exchanged  new  sun-bonnet  patterns. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  STYLES  AND  A  BALL 

There  was  no  Ladies  Home  Journal  or  Harpers  Bazaar  in 
those  days  to  keep  every  remote  hamlet  in  the  country  informed 
of  what  to  wear  and  how  to  wear  it.  Merchants  went  east  once 
in  every  two  or  three  years  to  renew  their  stock  of  goods  and 
brought  back  to  their  wives  and  daughters  the  latest  things  out  in 
fashionable  attire.  But  having  the  thing  and  knowing  how  to 
wear  it  were  two  very  different  propositions,  and  sometimes  lu- 
dicrous results  followed  the  effort  to  introduce  new  fashions. 

The  advent  of  a  stranger  in  this  little  community  was  an 
event  of  general  interest,  especially  when  this  stranger  was  a 
woman  who  brought  with  her  the  newest  fashions.  Some  very 
radical  changes  in  the  style  of  dress  had  been  introduced  in  fash- 
ionable circles  in  the  east  within  two  years,  and  the  close  cottage 
bonnets,  brought  by  one  of  the  merchants  as  a  present  to  his  wife 
and  sister,  were  both  grotesque  and  uncomfortable  when  worn  in 
the  manner  of  Gypsy  hats  which  had  preceded  them.  The  ap- 
pearance of  a  bride  from  Kentucky  (Mrs.  Orlando  Powers)  and 
a  lady  from  Cincinnati,  both  wearing  the  new  style  of  bonnet,  tied 
demurely  under  the  chin  instead  of  perched  on  the  top  of  the 
head,  was  welcomed  by  the  merchant  who  had  a  case  of  the  new 
bonnets  for  sale. 

A  number  of  cotton  net  night  caps  were  sold  by  an  enterpris- 
ing clerk,  who  had  no  idea  of  what  they  were  for,  as  the  latest 
thing  out  in  ball  head  dress,  and  by  his  recommendation,  narrow 
lute  string  ribbon  of  two  shades  of  contrasting  color  was  looped 
around  the  edge  as  a  border.  A  huge  rosette  of  the  same  ribbon 
was  set  on  top  of  the  head. 

These  head  dresses  were  worn  at  a  ball  given  by  Sheriff-Elect 
William  Wheeler,  in  honor  of  his  election,  in  the  fall  of  1849. 
The  dancing  at  this  ball  began  at  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and 
continued  until  4  the  next  morning. 

26 


THE  STYLES  AND  A  BALL  27 

in  the  narrow  hall  of  the  house,  on  each  side  of  which  was  a 
large  room  occupied  by  the  dancers,  the  music  and  the  "caller" 
were  stationed,  and  every  square  inch  of  space  was  occupied  by 
men  with  their  hats  on,  most  of  them  chewing  tobacco.  If  skirts 
had  been  worn  very  long  at  that  time,  it  would  have  been  impossi- 
ble to  cross  that  hall  in  safety. 

When  I  entered  the  dancing  room,  there  was  a  quadrille  on  the 
floor,  the  caller  was  melodiously  singing  "balance  partners,"  and 
"all  hands  round."  The  heads  of  the  town  were  there.  Mr.  E.  O. 
Smith  in  "gum  shoes"  and  rolled  up  trousers,  danced  vis  a  vis 
with  his  brother,  Tom,  who  wore  a  blue  blanket  overcoat  and 
danced  in  his  stocking  feet.  H.  B.  Durfee  was  debonair  in  a  blue 
broadcloth  dress  coat  with  brass  buttons,  buff  vest,  butternut  col- 
ored jeans  trousers  and  fancy  pumps.  He  "cut  a  pigeon  wing," 
and  took  a  graceful  step  for  every  note  of  music  with  more  skill 
and  agility  than  any  one  I  have  since  seen,  on  the  stage  or  off. 

Mrs.  Peddecord  and  Mrs.  Prather  both  appeared  in  their  care- 
fully preserved  silk  wedding  dresses  while  Mrs.  Rice  had  on  a 
brand  new  "bit  calico,"  trimmed  with  white  braid.  Miss  Sarah 
Jane  Querrey  and  Miss  Henrietta  Florey  (afterward  Mrs.  Ed. 
Piper  and  Mrs.  Charles  Tuttle)  wore  white,  with  pink  sashes  and 
wreaths  of  pink  roses.  Miss  Giles  and  Miss  Ellen  Giles  wore 
stunning  dresses  of  balzarine,  the  first  of  that  new  dress  material 
to  appear  in  Decatur.  The  new  style  of  head  dress,  with  its  mul- 
ticolored rosettes,  was  worn  by  two  young  women  from  Salt 
Creek.  James  Giles  and  Henry  Elliott  acted  as  floor  managers, 
and  "saw  to  it  that  the  same  men  did  not  hog  the  floor  for  every 
dance." 

A  bounteous  supper  of  sausage,  mashed  potatoes,  cold  slaw, 
hot  rolls  and  coffee  was  served  by  Mrs.  Wheeler,  assisted  by  her 
neighbors,  from  4  o'clock  till  midnight. 

This  ball  was  followed  by  subscription  dances  at  the  court 
house  where  "Mother"  Harrell  served  a  supper  down  stairs,  while 
the  dancing  was  on  the  second  floor.  The  menu  was  generally 
fried  ham  and  eggs,  corn  bread,  mashed  potatoes,  pickles  and 
dried  apple  pie.  Music  was  furnished  by  amateur  violinists, 
"Hawk"  Gorin  and  Dick  Oglesby  frequently  figuring  in  the  or- 
chestra. 


CHAPTER  V. 
MOSTLY  WORK  FOR  THE  WOMEN 

A  popular  saying  of  the  time  was,  "Illinois  is  heaven  for  men 
and  horses,  but  hell  for  women  and  oxen." 

In  every  farm  house  the  women  carded  the  wool,  spun  and 
dyed  the  yarn  and  wove  the  "linsey  woolsey"  and  the  jeans  and 
the  flannel,  which  was  afterwards  made  into  coats  and  trousers 
for  husband  and  sons,  and  dresses  for  themselves  and  the  girls. 
Women  milked  the  cows,  attended  to  the  chickens,  made  the  but- 
ter and  hominy,  the  soap  and  candles,  rendered  the  lard  and  took 
care  of  the  garden  and  dried  fruit  for  winter  use.  Air  tight  can- 
ning had  not  been  invented  and  sugar  was  too  expensive  to  be 
freely  used  in  preserving. 

In  those  days  there  were  no  sewing  machines,  no  ready  made 
children's  clothes,  nor  indeed,  ready  made  clothes  of  any  kind,  not 
even  stockings.  There  were  no  bake  shops  where  one  could  run 
out  and  get  ready  made  bread,  cake  or  pie;  no  canned  fruit  nor 
vegetables  ready  to  use  as  soon  as  opened;  no  boxes  of  ready 
made  soap;  no  gas  nor  electric  light,  not  even  lamps.  Candles 
made  at  home  had  to  furnish  light  by  which  all  this  work  was 
done.  Then  again,  there  were  no  homes  with  only  one  child.  Race 
suicide  did  not  exist  and  every  house  teemed  with  little  ones  to  be 
fed  and  clothed  and  cared  for. 

The  one  and  only  alleviation  was  mutual  helpfulness.  Almost 
all  social  functions  assumed  an  industrial  aspect.  There  were 
sewing  bees,  quiltings  and  apple  butter  makings,  instead  of  clubs, 
tnusicales  and  card  parties.  The  sewing  bees  and  quiltings  were 
all  day  affairs  which  began  at  9  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  lasted 
till  12  at  night. 

My  first  introduction  to  Decatur  society  was  at  a  sewing  bee, 
given  by  Mrs.  Rice,  a  sister  of  Mr.  Jerome  Gorin.  The  day  be- 
fore the  party,  Mrs.  E.  O.  Smith,  Mrs.  Shepherd,  Mrs.  McClellan 
and  Mrs.  Pugh  spent  helping  Mrs.  Rice  "bake  and  get  ready," 

28 


MOSTLY  WORK  FOR  THE  WOMEN  29 

while  Mrs.  Peddecord  and  Mrs.  Condell  "cut  out."  There  were 
coats  and  trousers,  shirts,  underwear  and  dresses,  cut  and  ready 
for  the  next  morning's  work.  Bread  and  pies  and  cakes  galore 
were  ready  for  both  dinner  and  supper.  Mrs.  Smith  and  Mrs. 
Shepherd  stopped  at  the  Macon  House  on  their  way  home  and  re- 
ported to  their  mother,  Mrs.  Krone,  the  particulars  of  their  day's 
work.  One  item  I  especially  remember,  was  a  four  gallon  jar  of 
pickled  beets  and  hard  boiled  eggs,  which  were  to  decorate  the 
table  next  day. 

Before  nine  o'clock  the  house  was  full.  All  the  beds  but  one 
had  been  taken  down  to  make  room  for  the  company.  One  bed 
was  reserved  to  "put  the  babies  on,"  and  it  was  occupied  by  from 
one  to  half  a  dozen  all  day.  Seats  had  been  improvised  by  put- 
ting a  plank  across  two  chairs  and  throwing  a  quilt  over  it.  Every 
woman,  as  she  entered,  was  given  a  piece  of  work  which  had  been 
prepared  the  day  before,  and  they  worked,  and  worked  and 
talked.  They  had  all  learned  the  art  of  doing  these  two  things 
at  the  same  time,  else  they  could  never  have  talked,  for  they  had 
to  work. 

At  noon,  a  "passed  around"  luncheon  was  served  and  the  work 
was  not  interrupted.  About  five  o'clock  the  sewing  was  laid  aside 
and  preparation  for  supper  was  begun,  and  at  six  the  men  ar- 
rived. The  standing  joke  as  they  came  in  was,  "I  am  starving.  I 
haven't  had  a  mouthful  to  eat  for  two  days,"  their  wives  protest- 
ing, "Now  what  a  whopper !  You  know  there  was  a  big  pot  of 
mush  on  the  stove,  two  crocks  of  milk  all  skimmed  and  ready  for 
you  and  the  children."  Or,  "You  had  a  big  pan  of  biscuits,  and  I 
bet  the  honey  suffered." 

The  men  were  seated  at  the  table  first  and  served  by  their 
wives. 

After  the  supper  was  over  and  the  table  cleared,  many  of  the 
married  ladies  went  home,  almost  all  carrying  generous  handker- 
chiefs full  of  good  things  to  the  children.  The  finished  work  was 
folded  and  laid  aside  and  much  of  the  unfinished  taken  home  by 
those  who  had  nearly  completed  their  stint,  to  work  the  button 
holes  or  sew  in  the  sleeves. 

A  number  of  young  people  were  added  to  the  company  and 


30  EARLY  DECATUR 

the  games  began.  The  party  had  been  very  general,  so  in  defer- 
ence to  the  prejudices  of  those  who  were  opposed  to  dancing,  on 
the  ground  of  its  immorality,  games  were  substituted.  Forfeits 
seemed  to  be  the  favorite  and  the  forfeit  was  always  a  kiss  or 
many  kisses.  "Bow  to  the  prettiest,  kneel  to  the  wittiest,  and 
kiss  the  one  you  love  best,"  or  "put  her  ten  feef  in  the  well  and 
let take  her  out,"  getting  out  being  ten  kisses. 

The  games  were  conducted  with  comparative  decorum  unless 
some  girl  refused  to  pay  the  penalty  assigned  and  her  determined 
suitor  attempted  to  take  by  strength  what  had  been  denied  by  fa- 
vor. Then  there  was  wild  screaming,  wrestling  and  hair  pulling 
and  scratching,  with  laughter  and  applause  which  would  have  put 
the  wildest  revels  of  the  Moulin  Rouge  to  shame. 

Later  in  the  winter  these  festivities  were  supplanted  by  a  re- 
markable three  weeks  series  of  revival  meetings,  remarkable  in 
that  Methodist  and  Baptist  churches  "united  in  brotherly  love  to 
fight  the  devil  in  his  stronghold,"  the  Baptist  minister,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Gates  having  conceded  that  "God  could  save  a  soul  without 
immersion."  In  these  meetings  there  was,  population  considered, 
a  larger  percentage  of  both  attendance  and  conversions  than  in 
the  great  "Billy"  Sunday  revival  of  a  later  date.  Nor  was  con- 
fession made  easy.  Going  forward  and  giving  your  hand  to  the 
evangelist  and  having  your  name  recorded  by  his  secretary  was 
not  "being  born  into  the  kingdom." 

The  sermons  of  the  two  traveling  evangelists  in  charge  of  this 
revival  were,  as  I  remember  them,  vivid  descriptions  of  the  "tor- 
tures of  the  damned"  and  the  fires  of  hell,  the  brimstone  being 
particularly  emphasized.  There  were  tedious  mathematical  dem- 
onstrations of  the  length  of  an  endless  eternity  and  glowing  pic- 
tures of  the  day  of  judgment. 

After  every  sermon  all  who  were  "laboring  under  conviction" 
were  urged  to  go  forward  and  kneel  at  the  mourner's  bench, 
where  those  who  were  already  saved  "wrestled"  with  them  witk 
tears  and  groans  and  cries  of  agony.  Occasionally  some  poor 
soul  would  "see  the  light"  and  shouts  of  joy  proclaimed  that  h1. 
had  "found  his  Savior." 

Sometimes,  some  one  who  had  "resisted  the  spirit"  and  refused 


MOSTLY  WORK  FOR  THE  WOMEN  31 

to  go  forward  to  the  mourner's  bench,  would  be  suddenly  over- 
come by  "the  power,"  and  from  the  body  of  the  church  cry  out 
for  forgiveness.  One  evening  the  whole  congregation  were 
startled  by  a  frantic  scream  from  one  of  the  back  pews.  "Oh,  I 
see  the  raging  fire !  I  smell  the  brimstone !  Oh,  God,  save — Oh, 
Christ,  save  me !"  and  a  fainting  young  woman  was  carried  into 
the  lobby. 

Occasionally  these  harrowing  scenes  were  relieved  by  the  lu- 
dicrous. A  tall  fleshy  woman,  who  had  suddenly  "found  pardon," 
sprang  to  her  feet,  threw  one  arm  around  the  evangelist,  who  was 
a  small  man,  and  pounding  him  on  the  back  with  her  fist,  shouted 
"glory !"  with  every  blow,  until  she  was  forcibly  unclasped  to  pre- 
vent the  poor  little  man  being  pounded  to  a  jelly.  This  religious 
hysteria  was  all  pervading  and  contagious  and  it  took  a  strong  will 
to  resist  its  influence. 

Preceding  this  revival  there  had  been  a  great  temperance 
movement.  A  traveling  "reformed  drunkard"  had  lectured  two 
or  three  evenings,  giving  graphic  and  disgusting  pictures  of  his 
state  and  that  of  his  family  before  he  took  the  pledge.  A  total  ab- 
stinence society  was  formed  and  the  pledge  signed  by  a  great 
many  people,  chiefly  young  people.  There  were  few  homes  at 
that  time  where  a  bottle  of  whisky  or  brandy  was  not  one  of  the 
necessary  family  supplies.  Peach  and  apple  brandy  of  domestic 
manufacture  were  abundant  and  pure,  in  the  sense  of  the  term  as 
compared  with  present  day  products,  but  lager  beer  was  absolutely 
unknown.  Almost  every  family  manufactured  its  own  "root 
beer"  of  an  unintoxicating  nature. 

There  were  very  few  men  of  middle  age  who  did  not  habit- 
ually take  a  "before  breakfast  toddy."  Yet  there  was  not  much 
over  indulgence  and  a  drunkard  was  looked  upon  with  horror  and 
contempt.  I  think  there  was  only  one  saloon  in  Decatur,  but 
there  men  assembled  to  play  cards  and  drink.  Card  playing  was 
not  indulged  in  as  a  social  amusement  at  all,  but  seven  up  and 
poker  attracted  a  good  many  men  to  the  saloon  where,  it  was  ru- 
mored, gambling  was  freely  indulged. 

One  night  the  wife  of  a  prominent  citizen,  too  many  of  whose 
evenings  were  spent  away  from  home,  concluded  that  she  would 


32  EARLY  DECATUR 

find  out  where  they  were  spent,  and  alone,  and  in  the  darkness, 
she  proceeded  on  an  investigating  tour.  Peeping  between  the 
bottles  displayed  in  the  window  of  the  saloon,  she  discovered  the 
absentee,  seated  at  a  card  table,  quietly  enjoying  a  game  of  seven 
up.  She  seized  a  club  (not  a  hatchet)  and  first  broke  every  pane 
of  glass  in  that  window ;  then  entering  the  saloon,  drove  out  every 
man,  broke  every  bottle  and  spilled  the  contents,  and  then  quietly 
went  home  to  enjoy  her  triumph.  I  think  this  was  the  first  "Car- 
rie Nation"  episode  in  history. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
BUILDING  RAILROADS 

The  railroad  fever  in  the  state  did  not  abate  with  the  col- 
lapse of  the  internal  improvement  bubble,  but  statesmen  began  to 
see  that  something  more  tangible  than  state  credit  must  be  devised 
whereby  the  public  domain  could  be  utilized  for  public  improve- 
ment. All  idea  of  state  ownership  was  abandoned  but  great  ef- 
fort was  made  to  secure  state  aid  to  private  corporations,  and 
congress  was  besieged  with  bills  granting  railroad  corporations 
the  right  to  preempt  the  public  land  through  which  the  proposed 
line  was  to  pass. 

This  plan  was  opposed  by  Judge  Douglas  in  the  senate  on  the 
ground  that  the  granting  of  land  should  be  conferred  on  the  state 
and  not  upon  an  irresponsible  private  corporation,  and  on  January 
3,  1848,  he  introduced  a  bill  for  the  granting  of  land  to  the  state 
of  Illinois  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  a  road  from  Cairo  to  Chi- 
cago. A  precedent  had  been  established  when,  in  1827,  congress 
had  granted  to  the  state  of  Illinois  the  alternate  five  sections  of 
land  upon  each  side  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal,  "for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  in  its  construction."  The  struggle  to  pass  this 
bill  was  a  long  and  tedious  one  and  had  many  rather  amusing  epi- 
sodes, some  of  which  are  worth  recording  as  illustrative  of  con- 
gressional methods. 

A  grant  of  land  to  the  state  of  Illinois  was  violently  opposed 
by  the  senators  of  the  southern  states  on  constitutional  grounds. 
Judge  Douglas  then  conceived  the  idea  of  connecting  the  Mobile 
&  Ohio  railroad  with  the  Illinois  Central.  He  went  to  Mobile  and 
succeeded  in  interesting  enough  influential  men  and  corporations 
in  his  propositon  to  secure  instructions  from  the  legislatures  of 
Alabama  and  Mississippi  to  their  senators  in  Washington,  re- 
questing them  to  vote  for  the  land  grant  bill.  When  Mr.  Douglas' 
bill  was  so  amended  as  to  include  the  Mobile  &  Ohio  road  in  its 
benefits  the  constitutional  objections  to  the  bill  disappeared  and 

33 


34  EARLY  DECATUR 

it  passed  the  senate,  the  objecting  southern  senators  entering 
heartily  into  the  project. 

Opposition  in  the  house  of  representatives  was  much  more 
difficult  to  overcome,  but  John  Wentworth,  with  the  assistance  of 
the  entire  Illinois  delegation,  succeeded  in  effecting  trades  and 
making  combinations  which,  it  was  claimed,  would  give  a  majority 
of  thirteen  in  favor  of  the  bill.  When  it  was  finally  brought  be- 
fore the  house  for  action,  its  friends  found  that  by  absenteeism  or 
for  some  other  cause,  they  were  in  a  minority  of  one  and  it  be- 
came necessary  to  stave  off  the  vote  or  suffer  defeat.  I  will  give 
the  rest  of  the  story  in  Judge  Douglas'  own  words : 

At  the  critical  moment  when  a  vote  would  have  been  sure  defeat,  Har- 
ris, of  Illinois,  quickly  and  as  pale  and  white  as  a  sheet,  jumped  to  his  feet 
and  moved  that  the  house  go  into  "committee  of  the  whole"  on  the  slavery 
question.  There  were  fifty  members  ready  with  speeches  on  that  subject 
and  the  motion  was  carried. 

Harris  came  to  me  in  the  lobby  and  stated  that  the  effect  of  this  motion 
was  to  place  the  bill  at  the  bottom  of  the  calendar.  I  asked  Harris  how  long 
it  would  be  before  it  would  come  up  again.  He  said  not  in  this  session ; 
that  there  were  ninety-seven  bills  ahead  of  it. 

I  then  racked  my  brain  for  many  nights  to  find  a  way  to  get  rid  of 
the  bills  and  it  at  last  occurred  to  me  that  if  the  same  course  was  pursued 
with  other  bills,  it  would  place  them  likewise  in  turn  at  the  foot  of  the 
calendar  and  thus  bring  the  Illinois  bill  at  the  head  again.  The  same  mo- 
tions would  each  have  to  be  made  ninety-seven  times  and,  while  the  first 
motion  might  be  made  by  some  of  our  friends,  it  would  not  do  for  some  of 

us  to  make  the  second.  I  finally  seized  on  Mr.  ,  a  political  opponent 

but  a  personal  friend,  who  agreed  to  make  the  second  motion  to  go  into 
the  committee  of  the  whole  as  often  as  was  necessary.  He  agreed  to  it  as 
a  personal  favor  to  me. 

Then  Harris,  in  the  house,  sometimes  twice  in  the  same  day,  either 
made  or  caused  to  be  made  the  first  motion,  when  Mr.  —  would  im- 
mediately make  the  second.  Finally,  by  this  means,  the  Illinois  bill  got 
to  the  head  of  the  docket.  Harris  that  morning  made  the  first  motion  to 
take  up  the  bill  "granting  lands  to  the  state  of  Illinois." 

The  opposition  was  taken  completely  by  surprise  and  said  that  there 
must  be  some  mistake  as  the  bill  had  gone  to  the  bottom  of  the  calendar. 
It  was  explained  and  the  speaker  declared  the  motion  all  right,  and  the  bill 
"donating  to  the  state  of  Illinois  every  alternate  section  of  land  for  the  dis- 
tance of  six  miles  on  each  side  of  the  proposed  line  of  the  Illinois  Central 
railroad,"  was  passed  by  a  majority  of  three. 

And  thus  was  assured  the  building  of  the  Great  Illinois  Cen- 
tral railroad. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  Douglas  and  Shields  in  the  senate, 
and  Lincoln,  Robert  Smith,  McClernand  and  Baker  in  the  house, 
who  were  active  workers  for  the  passage  of  this  land  grant  bill, 
had  all  been  members  of  the  famous  Tenth  Illinois  general  assem- 


BUILDING  RAILROADS  35 

bly,  which  passed  the  Internal  Improvement  scheme  for  which 
they  all  voted.  However,  whatever  blame  might  be  attached  to 
them  for  errors  of  judgment  and  action  on  that  occasion  was  no- 
bly atoned  for  by  their  subsequent  efforts  in  securing  the  passage 
of  a  measure  which  has  not  only  obliterated  the  enormous  debt 
created  by  the  Internal  Improvement  system,  but  secured  to  the 
state  an  income  which  will  not  only  increase  in  the  future,  but  will 
remain  perpetual. 

There  were  several  proposed  routes  for  the  Ilinois  Central 
through  Macon  county,  one  of  which  crossed  the  Sangamon  river 
six  miles  west  of  Decatur,  and  was  pronounced  by  Engineer 
Charles  Tuttle  cheaper  and  more  feasible  than  the  original  survey 
made  fourteen  years  before,  which  passed  through  that  city.  The 
proposed  change  of  location  of  the  road  caused  great  excitement, 
but  a  determined  and  united  effort  on  the  part  of  prominent  citi- 
zens, led  by  the  Honorable  E.  O.  Smith,  resulted  in  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  "cut  off  route,"  and  the  road  was  located  through  De- 
catur. 

The  location  of  the  depot  then  became  a  matter  of  controversy 
which  was  finally  settled  by  the  purchase  of  a  forty  acre  tract  of 
land  east  of  Broadway  and  north  of  North  street  by  Prather, 
Martin  and  Catling  (of  Catling  gun  fame),  who  donated  ten 
acres  and  the  right  of  way  to  the  road,  provided  the  depot  was 
placed  upon  the  land  donated. 

Simultaneously  with  the  survey  for  the  Illinois  Central  rail- 
road the  old  project  of  a  cross  state  road  was  rejuvenated  and  a 
new  corporation  commenced  the  construction  of  the  Great  West- 
ern, now  the  Wabash,  through  Decatur,  and  the  town  took  on 
new  life. 

Contracts  for  the  building  of  two  railroads  brought  with  them 
the  necessary  complement  of  foreign  laborers,  an  element  which 
had  previously  been  almost  unknown  in  the  vicinity  and  one 
which  was  not  very  cordially  welcomed  by  the  native  Americans. 
The  jealous  conflicts  between  rival  gangs  of  German  and  Irish 
kept  peaceful  citizens  in  constant  terror. 

There  was  a  time  when  for  almost  three  weeks  Decatur  was 
practically  under  martial  law.  Mr.  Robert  R.  Montgomery,  who 


36  EARLY  DECATUR 

was  a  boy  at  the  time  and  an  interested  onlooker,  has  suggested  to 
me  that  the  episode  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  in  Decatur's  pre- 
railroad  history.  I  give  his  story  in  his  own  words : 

An  incident  that  occurred  during  this  time  made  a  lasting  impression 
on  my  mind.  It  was  in  1855  or  '56,  when  the  construction  work  of  the 
Great  Western  (now  Wabash)  railroad  was  under  way.  This  road  was 
built  into  Decatur  from  the  west.  Where  the  road  crosses  Stevens  creek, 
about  two  miles  west  of  Decatur,  there  was  some  heavy  grading  work  to 
be  done.  There  were  two  gangs  of  workmen  in  this  vicinity  under  differ- 
ent management.  In  one  camp  there  were  Irish ;  in  the  other  Germans ;  all 
of  them  fresh  from  the  old  country. 

A  controversy  arose  between  the  two  camps,  and  the  following  Satur- 
day the  Irish  came  to  town,  got  full  of  bad  whisky,  went  back  to  their  camp, 
armed  themselves  with  picks,  shovels  and  clubs,  and  made  a  raid  or  charge 
on  the  German  camp.  A  battle  royal  ensued. 

Early  Sunday  morning  the  town  was  aroused.  Reports  were  current 
that  several  persons  had  been  killed  and  others  badly  wounded. 

In  a  small  room  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  second  floor  of  the 
old  court  house  were  stored  the  arms  and  ammunition  of  the  Macon  county 
soldiers  that  served  in  the  Indian  and  Mexican  wars.  The  arms  were 
mostly  old  flintlock  muskets  with  bayonets.  On  the  above  mentioned  Sun- 
day morning  the  sheriff  called  a  mass  meeting  of  citizens  and  asked  for 
volunteers  to  act  with  and  under  him  in  making  the  arrest  of  the  rioters. 
(It  might  be  well  to  mention  that  there  were  scarcely  more  men  in  the  town 
than  there  were  in  these  railroad  camps). 

A  company  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  men  was  formed  and  armed  with 
these  old  old  muskets.  These  men,  led  by  the  sheriff,  some  on  horseback, 
some  on  foot,  marched  down  to  the  camps,  arrested  the  offenders  and 
brought  them  up  for  trial.  A  great  commotion  ensued,  but  everybody 
lived  to  tell  the  tale,  so  far  as  I  am  able  to  say. 

William  F.  Martin,  who  was  clerking  in  Peddecord's  store  at 
the  time,  gives  a  more  detailed  history  of  this  first  labor  war  in 
Decatur. 

At  the  big  "Stevens  creek  fill"  on  the  Great  Western,  there 
were  two  contractors  doing  the  work,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
creek.  One  of  them  employed  entirely  Irish  laborers,  and  the 
other,  German.  The  close  proximity  of  these  two  gangs  caused 
constant  friction  and  bloody  fights  were  numerous.  Upon  one 
occasion  the  rumor  came  to  town  that  the  Germans  were  extermi- 
nating the  Irish.  On  the  Illinois  Central,  just  at  the  Prairie  street 
crossing,  a  large  gang  of  Irishmen  were  working  for  John  Post, 
who  had  the  grading  contract  for  one  mile  of  that  road.  These 
men  determined  to  march  to  the  rescue  of  their  countrymen  at 
Stevens  creek.  They  armed  themselves  with  pickaxes,  shovels 
and  shillalahs  and  marched  up  East  Main  street. 


BUILDING  RAILROADS  37 

At  the  courthouse  square  they  were  intercepted  by  a  hastily 
collected  posse  of  deputy  sheriffs,  who  had  been  armed  with  rusty 
muskets  taken  from  the  court  house.  The  bayonets  of  these  mus- 
kets looked  rather  formidable  to  the  marching  men  when  they  en- 
countered a  solid  phalanx  of  armed  sheriffs  drawn  up  across  the 
head  of  East  Main  street.  It  did  not  take  long  to  convince  them 
that  they  had  better  return  peaceably  to  their  own  camp. 

There  was  comparative  quiet  for  a  few  days,  but  the  sheriff 
thought  it  wise  to  continue  his  armed  deputies  in  authority.  A 
number  of  warrants  had  been  sworn  out  against  the  rioters  on 
Stevens  creek,  and  it  was  determined  to  arrest  the  men  on  pay- 
day. Deputies  to  the  number  of  ten  or  twelve  were  ordered  to 
surround  the  camp  and  arrest  the  accused  men  as  their  names 
were  called  to  receive  their  pay. 

The  arrests  were  successfully  accomplished  and  the  prisoners 
were  marched  to  the  court  house  where  they  were  kept  under 
guard  for  three  days  before  their  trial.  Rumors  of  an  attempted 
rescue  were  rife  and  the  sheriff's  posse  was  indefinitely  increased 
and  guards  were  relieved  every  four  hours.  What  was  the  final 
outcome  of  that  incident,  I  have  been  unable  to  learn. 

A  few  days  later  one  of  the  contractors  failed  to  receive  his 
money  on  the  date  announced  as  pay  day.  His  gang  struck  and 
refused  to  work  until  they  were  paid.  They  became  riotous  and 
the  sheriff  thought  it  best  to  call  out  his  posse  again. 

The  money  came  after  a  few  days  delay  and  an  office  was 
opened  in  the  room  of  the  circuit  clerk  in  the  court  house.  A 
window  on  the  south  side  of  the  room  was  opened,  and  the  men 
paid  as  their  names  were  called.  At  5  o'clock  not  half  the  men 
had  been  paid,  but  the  window  was  closed  and  it  was  announced 
that  payments  would  be  resumed  at  8  o'clock  the  next  morning. 

The  men  began  to  clamor  and  declare  that  they  would  have 
their  money  that  night  or  they  would  break  in  and  take  it.  The 
door  of  the  clerk's  office  was  locked  and  barricaded,  but  the 
crowd  of  anxious  men  packed  the  hall  to  suffocation,  and  at- 
tempted to  batter  down  the  door. 

Half  a  dozen  armed  men  inside  the  room  pushed  a  long  table 
across  the  doorway  and  mounting  it,  stood  with  pistols  cocked, 


38      .  EARLY  DECATUR 

ready  to  defend  the  entrance.  When  the  door  was  finally  broken 
down  half  a  dozen  men  were  precipitated  head  foremost  against 
the  table  by  the  pressure  of  those  who  stood  in  the  rear.  The  men 
standing  on  the  table  pointed  their  pistols  directly  at  the  crowd 
and  called,  "Halt,  or  we  will  fire!"  This  started  the  pressure  in 
the  opposite  direction  and  men  knocked  each  other  down  in  their 
efforts  to  escape. 

The  payment  of  the  men  proceeded  in  an  orderly  manner  next 
morning,  and  the  strike  was  ended.  This  military  demonstration 
proved  very  effective  and  the  remaining  years  of  railroad  con- 
struction passed  without  strike  or  riot. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
GAY  TIMES  IN  THE  FIFTIES 

The  influx  of  new  business,  new  enterprises  and  new  people 
soon  created  a  new  social  standard  and  Decatur  began  to  put  on 
metropolitan  airs.  The  hordes  of  foreign  laborers  that  the  rail- 
road building  had  brought  to  the  town  had  disrupted  society.  The 
classes  and  the  masses  had  begun  to  segregate.  The  lawyer  and 
the  merchant  no  longer  danced  vis-a-vis  with  the  mechanic  and 
the  laborer.  The  lady  of  the  house  and  her  "hired  girl"  did  not 
draw  straws  to  settle  the  question  of  which  should  go  to  the  ball 
and  which  should  stay  at  home  to  take  care  of  the  children.  We 
began  to  speak  of  "society." 

There  were  scores  of  hospitable  homes  in  Decatur  in  the  late 
fifties  where  the  old  settlers  gave  the  new  comer  a  cordial  wel- 
come. Newly  imported  bankers,  speculators,  manufacturers,  en- 
gineers and  contractors,  with  their  families,  when  added  to  the 
old  social  element  which  had  made  the  Wheeler  ball  and  the  Rice 
sewing  bee  so  enjoyable  and  so  memorable,  constituted  a  social 
circle  which  for  hospitality,  wit,  beauty,  and  good  breeding  has 
never  been  surpassed  in  Decatur. 

In  1853  William  Powers  built  a  block  of  stores  on  the  south 
side  of  East  Main  street  with  Powers  Hall  on  the  third  floor 
and  we  had  theaters  and  concerts,  lectures  and  festivals.  Lit- 
erary societies  and  musical  unions  superseded  spelling  contests 
and  singing  schools.  Church  sociables  and  fairs  took  the  place 
of  quilting  bees  and  apple  parings  and  the  waltz  and  schottische 
eliminated  the  musical  call  for  quadrilles. 

Married  people  were  society  leaders,  and,  though  chaperonage 
was  not  essential  to  respectability,  there  were  no  exclusively 
young  people's  functions.  Neither  were  there  ladies'  luncheons 
nor  afternoon  teas.  Men  and  their  wives  went  out  together.  It 
would  have  been  almost  an  insult  to  invite  the  wife  without  her 
husband. 

39 


4O  EARLY  DECATUR 

With  the  new  people  came  new  homes  and  more  gaiety.  Mr. 
Mason,  the  gay  widower,  with  his  three  accomplished  daughters, 
who  were  later  Mrs.  McMullin,  Mrs.  Hale  and  Mrs.  Hilde- 
brandt,  were  among  the  first.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Hays,  with 
Frank  and  Nannie,  Mr.  John  Race  and  his  bride,  Mr.  Joseph 
White  and  family,  all  kept  open  house. 

The  home  of  Mrs.  Ann  Harrison  (mother  of  Mrs.  W.  H.  En- 
nis)  was  a  social  center.  Three  jolly  widows  and  a  pretty  girl 
were  the  attraction.  Mrs.  Harrison  was  a  model  hostess  while 
Mrs.  Edmunson,  afterwards  Mrs.  H.  C.  Bradsby,  was  a  born  so- 
ciety leader.  The  gentle  and  attractive  Mrs.  Berry,  with  Miss 
Louie  Harrison,  (Mrs.  William  H.  Ennis),  who  was  an  accom- 
plished musician,  completed  a  quartet  that  made  their  home  one 
of  the  most  attractive  in  the  town. 

One  interesting  element  of  the  social  situation  was  the  large 
number  of  eligible  bachelors,  whose  presence  gave  zest  to  the 
hospitalities  of  the  ladies.  Richard  J.  Oglesby,  Lowber  Burrows, 
William  Ennis,  Charles  Tuttle,  Sheridan  Wait,  Alonzo  Burgess, 
William  Wells,  Charles  Thatcher  and  other  matrimonial  catches 
were  almost  all  safely  landed  in  wedlock's  silken  meshes  by  De- 
catur  girls. 

A  great  deal  of  musical  and  histrionic  talent  developed  itself 
in  this  little  coterie  and  found  vent  in  amateur  operas,  theatricals, 
tableaux  and  masque  balls.  One  of  the  favorite  amusements  was 
charades.  A  word  selected  by  the  actors  was  illustrated,  first  in 
syllables  and  then  as  a  whole,  by  clever  dialogue,  acting  and  tab- 
leaux, and  the  audience  was  left  to  guess  the  meaning  of  the  per- 
formance. Charade  parties  were  very  numerous  and  very  popu- 
lar. 

I  think  the  first  entertainment  ever  given  in  Decatur  for  the 
benefit  of  the  poor  was  a  masque  ball  at  the  Revere  House  in  the 
winter  of  1855.  Destitution  and  poverty  were  terms  unknown 
to  the  pioneers,  when  all  had  been  friends  and  neighbors,  but  con- 
ditions were  changed.  "The  poor  we  had  with  us  always."  There 
had  been  a  good  deal  of  sickness  among  the  railroad  laborers,  and 
it  was  reported  that  two  or  three  widows  with  small  children 
were  very  destitute.  It  was  suggested  that  our  merry  making 


GAY  TIMES  IN  THE  FIFTIES  41 

might  be  transformed  into  money  making  and  little  children  be 
made  happy  by  our  fun. 

The  invitations  were  issued  and  two  weeks  were  given  for 
preparation.  It  was  stipulated  that  every  guest  must  appear  at 
the  parlor  of  the  Revere  House  at  7 130,  masked  and  in  character 
costume,  "no  dominos."  At  8  o'clock,  gentlemen  were  to  select 
their  partners  and  make  the  grand  march  to  the  dining  room  to 
inaugurate  the  dance. 

The  two  weeks  were  passed  in  insidious  attempts  to  mystify. 
Behind  locked  doors  costumes  were  being  prepared,  but  occasion- 
ally some  bit  which  had  mysteriously  strayed  into  the  parlor, 
would  be  hastily  concealed,  after  the  visitor  had  caught  a  glimpse 
of  it. 

When  the  appointed  night  arrived  husbands  dressed  down 
town  and  wives  at  a  neighbor's  house,  and  at  half  past  seven  a 
hundred  or  more  maskers  had  appeared  in  the  Revere  House  par- 
lors. One  by  one  the  ladies,  seated  demurely  around  the  room, 
were  claimed  as  partners  by  some  monk  or  knight  or  negro  min- 
strel. A  few  minutes  before  8  o'clock  two  gorgeously  attired 
Highlanders  in  kilts  and  pouches,  plaid  stockings  and  bare  knees, 
Scotch  caps  and  heron  feathers,  circled  the  room  in  search  of 
partners.  A  little  Scotch  lassie,  who  had  been  timidly  shrinking 
behind  a  big  Irish  woman  with  flopping  cap  border,  was  soon 
seen,  recognized  and  claimed  by  the  "braw  Highland  laddie"  with 
a  whispered,  "Ah,  Lizzie,  I  knew  you  the  moment  I  saw  you ;  my 
heart  told  me  where  to  find  you.  You  were  waiting  for  me, 
weren't  you  ?" 

At  12  o'clock,  when  masks  were  ordered  off,  this  sentimental 
swain  discovered  that  he  had  been  all  the  evening  dancing  with 
and  whispering  sweet  nothings  into  the  ear  of  his  married  sister. 

A  charming  widow,  who  as  Lucy  Long,  with  black  face  and 
shortened  dress,  had  unguardedly  betrayed  her  identity  to  a  num- 
ber of  her  admirers,  early  in  the  evening  changed  costumes  with 
a  Quaker  girl  from  Chillicothe,  O.,  and  had  the  pleasure  for  the 
rest  of  the  evening  of  being  an  onlooker  at  her  own  popularity. 

The  ball  netted  $120,  and  the  heart  of  the  widow  was  made 
glad. 


42  EARLY  DECATUR 

One  of  the  peculiar  cogs  in  the  social  machine  of  those  early 
days  was  the  serenade.  Not  the  song  of  a  lone  swain,  who 
thrummed  his  guitar  under  the  window  of  his  lady  love,  but  the 
organized  glee  club  that  made  night  melodious  with  duets,  trios 
and  quartets.  George  Wessels,  Theodore  Hildebrandt,  Bob  Mc- 
Cabe,  Frank  Hays  and  Will  Martin,  were  the  charter  members  of 
one  of  these  clubs.  They  had  purchased  a  portable  melodeon 
which  they  carried  with  them  on  their  nightly  rounds  to  give 
strength  and  vplume  to  their  musical  productions.  Any  gallant, 
fortunate  enough  to  have  a  voice,  might  join  them  for  one  night 
only,  if  he  wanted  to  honor  a  particular  lady.  If  he  could  not 
sing,  he  was  allowed  to  pump  the  melodeon,  and  in  return  to  treat 
to  the  supper  after  the  night's  labors  were  over. 

The  lady  complimented  by  a  serenade  was  supposed  to  be 
fast  asleep  with  lights  out  and  curtains  drawn,  but  it  was  a  singu- 
lar fact  that  a  beautifully  arranged  bouquet  was  always  ready  to 
be  thrown  from  the  window,  or  the  parlor  would  suddenly  be 
ablaze  with  light  and  a  fully  dressed  lady  would  invite  the  min- 
strels to  coffee  and  cake. 

Rival  swains  soon  began  to  contend  for  these  honors,  and  the 
newly  organized  brass  band  was  called  into  service  to  help  make 
the  night  melodious.  It  was  not  at  all  unusual  for  the  voices  of 
the  glee  club,  singing  "Wake  Lady,"  to  be  drowned  by  a  full  band 
of  brass  horns  not  a  stone's  throw  away.  These  midnight  sere- 
nades were  more  popular  with  the  young  folks  than  with  their 
elders,  and  there  were  times  when  cold  water,  instead  of  bou- 
quets, was  thrown  from  the  window. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
CLOUDS  FOLLOWED  BY  PROSPERITY 

The  state  of  Illinois  was  in  bad  repute  after  the  failure  of  its 
railroad  bubble.  The  state  debt  threatened  either  repudiation  or 
prohibitory  taxation.  Its  bank  notes  were  discounted  in  every 
state  in  the  Union.  The  timber  lands,  which  were  thought  to  be 
the  only  lands  available  for  farming,  had  all  been  entered  or  pur- 
chased by  speculators  and  immigration  had  been  checked  by  ru- 
mors of  the  exceeding  unhealthfulness  of  the  state. 

"Milk  sickness,"  a  disease  fatal  to  both  humanity  and  cattle, 
was  reported  as  prevalent  in  almost  every  county.  Ague  ren- 
dered the  life  of  its  victims  unbearable,  and  ague  prevailed  in 
every  home. 

There  were  three  distinct  species  of  this  disagreeable  disease. 
First  there  was  the  "every  other  day  chill  and  fever."  If  you  were 
fortunate  enough  to  escape  that,  then  you  were  liable  to  have 
the  "third  day  ague/'  which  shook  harder  and  burned  with 
fiercer  fever  than  did  the  regulation  "chill."  If  you  escaped  both 
of  these,  then  "dumb  ague"  was  probably  your  fate,  and  from 
this  you  did  not  even  have  the  relief  of  a  periodic  rest.  Every- 
body had  either  the  one  or  the  other.  People  who  were  victims 
of  the  "regular  chills"  set  the  hour  on  every  alternate  day  when 
they  expected  to  shake  with  unbearable  cold  for  an  hour  or  two, 
and  then  parch  with  fever  and  thirst  for  a  similar  period,  fol- 
lowed by  a  drenching  perspiration,  which  left  its  victim  willing  to 
die.  With  one  day's  interval,  the  program  was  repeated.  The 
hour  of  attack  seldom  varied  over  fifteen  minutes.  Families 
were  fortunate  where  the  "chill  day"  of  some  of  its  members  al- 
ternated with  the  "well  day,"  of  others.  Peruvian  bark  and 
"yarbs"  of  various  kinds  could  sometimes  be  depended  on  to 
break  the  daily  periodicity,  but  a  return  was  certain  in  either  three 
or  six  weeks.  No  one  hoped  to  escape. 

Previous  to  the  advent  of  railroads,  prairie  land  was  not  con- 

43 


44  EARLY  DECATUR 

sidered  a  desirable  investment.  It  was  the  almost  unanimous 
opinion  of  the  early  settlers  that  the  boundless  rolling  prairie, 
with  all  its  fertility  and  beauty,  could  never  pass  from  the  ow- 
nership of  the  government,  that  it  was  utterly  unfit  for  cultivation 
and  had  no  value  except  for  grazing  purposes.  They  believed  it 
would  always  remain  a  great  commons  where  any  man,  fortunate 
enough  to  possess  a  farm  on  its  timbered  borders,  would  have  un- 
limited and  endless  pasture  for  his  stock.  A  few  "cattle  kings" 
gathered  together  large  herds  which  were  pastured  on  the  rich 
grass  for  from  seven  to  eight  months  and  then  driven  to  Indiana 
and  Ohio  to  be  fattened  in  the  fall. 

Cattle  buyers  seldom  bought  one  or  a  dozen  head.  They 
dealt  only  in  herds  of  a  hundred  or  more.  The  small  farmer  who 
owned  a  few  cows  and  calves  found  it  more  advantageous  to  sell 
his  stock  in  the  spring  than  to  herd  them.  Frequently  some  "cat- 
tle man"  would  agree  with  the  farmer  to  protect  his  cows  and 
calves  from  molestation  during  the  grazing  season  on  condition 
that  he  alone  was  to  be  the  purchaser  of  the  yearlings. 

By  a  sort  of  law  of  courtesy  the  cattle  men  kept  off  of  each 
other's  range,  but  all  stock  not  recognized  as  belonging  to  some 
herd  was  "kept  on  the  run."  In  this  way,  a  large  proportion  of 
the  desirable  grazing  was  portioned  out  and  usurped  by  compar- 
atively few  men,  and  such  great  "cattle  kings"  as  Strawn,  Gillett, 
Harris,  Duncan,  Bacon  and  others  grew  rich  and  powerful. 

Another  rule  of  courtesy  was  strictly  enforced.  The  herds 
must  not  encroach  on  the  grazing  within  a  limited  distance  from 
an  enclosed  farm.  Thus  the  farmer,  with  the  help  of  prairie 
hay,  to  be  had  for  the  cutting,  was  able  to  keep  his  young  stock 
till  they  were  of  marketable  age. 

It  was  the  universal  opinion  of  all  the  old  settlers  that  there 
was  no  remedy  for  these  conditions.  Fencing  the  boundless 
prairies  was  utterly  impracticable.  Four-fifths  of  the  land  was 
too  wet  for  cultivation.  No  plow  had  been  invented  that  could 
break  the  tough  sod  of  the  highest  land.  But  necessity  is  the 
mother  of  invention.  A  way  must  be  found  to  give  a  marketable 
value  to  the  immense  tracts  of  prairie  included  in  the  land  grant 
of  the  Illinois  Central  railroad.  The  inventive  genius  of  the 


CLOUDS  FOLLOWED  BY  PROSPERITY  45 

world  was  enlisted  in  solving  the  problem.  Horticulturists  began 
experimenting  with  plants  for  hedges;  engineers  and  scientists 
gave  earnest  attention  to  the  drainage  question  and  mechanics 
made  sod  plows. 

Honey  locust,  willow  and  osage  orange  were  exploited  for 
hedges  and  there  were  miles  of  experimental  hedges  set  out.  It 
was  finally  conceded  that  the  osage  orange  would  be  the  universal 
fence  and  large  nurseries  were  devoted  to  its  cultivation  and  mil- 
lions of  plants  sold.  And  so  the  vast  cattle  ranges  were  soon  di- 
vided into  fields  and  pastures  and  orchards. 

Immigrants  of  an  enterprising  class,  who  brought  with  them 
not  only  money  but  improved  ideas  of  farming  and  manufac- 
tures, began  to  pour  into  the  town  and  the  surrounding  country. 

Speculators,  engineers  and  contractors  found  Decatur  a  desir- 
able place  of  residence.  The  old  plats  of  additions  were  reestab- 
lished and  lots  sold  at  remunerative  prices.  William  H.  Ennis, 
Charles  Tuttle,  William  Martin,  Sullivan  Burgess,  Sheridan  Wait 
and  other  enterprising  men  began  to  exploit  Decatur  as  a  rising 
town.  Henry  Prather,  Samuel  Powers,  Richard  J.  Oglesby,  Si- 
las Packard  and  other  old  residents  had  returned  from  California, 
bringing  with  them  capital  for  investment.  New  banks,  new 
stores,  new  law  offices  were  opened  by  the  men  who,  two  years 
before,  played  marbles  in  the  shade  of  the  court  house. 

Prosperity  came  with  the  building  of  the  railroads  and  the 
opening  up  of  prairie  farms.  Three  banks  were  added  to  the 
business  enterprises  of  Decatur.  David  Kline,  as  president,  and 
Charles  Fuller,  as  cashier,  came  from  somewhere  east,  and  op- 
ened a  bank  in  the  building  on  Franklin  street  that  had  been  previ- 
ously used  as  a  school  room  by  Miss  Maria  Giles,  and  by  the 
Baptist  church  as  a  place  of  worship.  Mr.  Jasper  Peddecord 
added  to  his  extensive  business  of  general  merchandise,  pork 
packing  and  commission  house,  a  new  bank  in  which  he  in- 
stalled Mr.  Lowber  Burrows,  a  gay  and  interesting  young  gentle- 
man from  Philadelphia,  as  "chief  cook  and  bottle  washer." 

This  bank,  soon  after  its  organization,  was  located  in  the 
block  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Central  park,  where  it  remained 
for  more  than  sixty  years.  The  back  room  of  that  bank  was  for 


46  EARLY  DECATUR 

years  the  unorganized  gentlemen's  club  of  Decatur.  Here  met 
the  men  of  affairs  and  influence  to  discuss  business,  politics  and 
society,  and  listen  to  Jasper  Peddecord's  dry  wit  and  Dick  Ogles- 
by's  jolly  stories. 

For  many  years  almost  every  movement  of  importance  to  the 
welfare  of  Decatur  was  conceived  and  brought  forth  in  that  same 
back  room,  which  deserves  a  memorial  tablet,  "To  the  Wisdom 
and  Wit  of  Early  Decatur." 

This  building  is  now  torn  down  to  be  replaced  with  a  new 
bank  building. 

The  third  bank  was  called  the  Railroad  bank,  and  was  estab- 
lished in  a  building  on  Merchant  street,  afterwards  for  many 
years  occupied  by  the  Danziesen  meat  market.  Mr.  Lewis,  pres- 
ident of  this  bank,  made  himself  very  prominent  in  church  and 
social  affairs  and  for  about  two  years  "cut  quite  a  splurge"  in 
Decatur.  He  then  failed,  leaving  many  people  the  worse  for  his 
coming  and  the  confidence  of  Decatur's  3,000  people  in  banks 
somewhat  shaken. 

Mr.  James  Millikin,  having  recently  brought  ,to  Decatur  about 
$75,000  capital,  was  persuaded  by  many  business  men  to  open  a 
new  bank  in  the  building  where  the  Railroad  bank  had  failed, 
and,  notwithstanding  the  handicap  of  the  location,  the  bank  was 
a  success. 

The  prudence  and  conservativeness  which  was  the  bank's  pol- 
icy, combined  with  the  business  sagacity  of  James  Millikin,  soon 
restored  confidence  in  banking  and  for  more  than  fifty  years 
the  Millikin  bank  has  been  the  pride  of  Decatur  and  a  bulwark 
of  safety  in  financial  circles. 

Mr.  Millikin's  magnificent  benefactions  to  Decatur  came  later 
than  the  time  of  which  this  story  tells,  but  were  foreshadowed  by 
the  thoughtful,  painstaking,  though  willing,  liberality  of  his  gifts 
to  every  good  cause  in  the  days  of  old. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
FIRST  DECATUR  BRICK 

x 

The  scarcity  of  building  material  was  a  great  handicap  to  the 
progress  of  Decatur.  All  efforts  to  make  brick  of  clay  in  the 
vicinity  had  been  abandoned.  The  old  jail  on  the  corner  of 
Wood  and  Church  streets  was  the  only  building  standing  in 
which  Decatur  brick  had  been  used,  and  it  was  said  that  one  could 
"pick  any  brick  in  that  building  to  pieces  with  a  darning  needle." 
The  court  house,  Stamper  &  Condell's  store,  the  Macon  and  the 
Franklin  street  stores,  with  the  Masonic  hall,  the  Peddecord, 
Cassell  and  Dr.  Read's  residences  were  all  built  of  brick  from 
Edgar  county,  and  hauled  to  Decatur  in  ox  wagons. 

When  Mr.  Martin  located  permanently  in  Decatur,  in  1852,  he 
was  an  enthusiastic  believer  in  the  future  of  the  country,  but  de- 
cided that  available  building  material  was  necessary  to  the  fulfil- 
ment of  his  dreams.  So  he  determined  to  test  Decatur  clay  for 
brick  making.  He  filled  a  large  box  with  clay,  dug  on  the  corner 
of  Broadway  and  Decatur  streets,  and  took  it  to  St.  Louis  as  bag- 
gage on  the  stage  coach.  It  was  made  into  brick  in  St.  Louis, 
brought  back  in  Mr.  Martin's  trunk  and  put  on  exhibition  in  the 
window  of  E.  O.  Smith's  store  and  labeled,  "Brick  made  of  De- 
catur clay." 

The  brick  were  tested  in  every  imaginable  way  and  pro- 
nounced "good  brick."  It  seemed,  however,  that  no  one  had 
enough  faith  in  Decatur  clay  to  invest  money  in  its  manufacture. 
Seeing  that  no  one  else  was  willing  to  risk  in  an  investment  of  this 
kind,  Mr.  Martin  went  again  to  St.  Louis  and  returned  with  an  ox 
wagon  and  two  two-horse  wagons,  loaded  with  men  with  their 
household  goods,  spades,  moulds,  etc.,  for  brick  making.  Ben 
Metz,  John  Brandt  and  Frank  and  Henry  Meyer  were  members 
of  this  group  of  immigrants.  They  were  skilled  brick  makers  and 
were  soon  convinced  that  brick  making  in  Decatur  could  be  made 
a  profitable  business.  Mr.  Martin  capitalized  the  enterprise  for 

47 


48  EARLY  DECATUR 

a  while  as  a  partner,  but  soon  sold  out  to  Ben  Metz  and  also  sold 
the  ground  between  Broadway  and  Webster,  from  Decatur  to 
Lawrence  streets,  for  a  brick  yard. 

All  the  clay  from  this  land  was  dug  out  in  a  few  years  and  the 
brick  yards  were  moved  further  east.  For  many  years  this  old 
brick  yard  was  an  "eye  sore"  to  the  neighborhood,  having  been 
denuded  of  clay  and  soil  to  a  depth  of  several  feet.  One  immense 
cottonwood  tree  stood  until  within  a  few  years  on  a  mound  of 
earth  on  the  lot  on  which  Mr.  Hoendorf  has  recently  built  a 
house.  It  was  a  land  mark  which  old  residents  were  sorry  to  see 
cut  down,  but  in  the  march  of  improvement  it  had  to  give  way  to 
a  house.  This  entire  "hole  in  the  ground,"  which  for  many  years 
was  thought  to  be  of  no  value,  is  now  occupied  by  comfortable 
homes. 

The  first  brick  yard  was  established  on  the  lot  at  the  intersec- 
tion of  Broadway  and  Gault  streets,  where  the  St.  Louis  brick 
makers  made  the  first  brick  of  Decatur  clay.  The  bricks  were 
"hand  made."  The  clay  was  pulverized  and  mixed  with  spades. 
When  it  was  properly  tempered,  it  was  cut  to  pieces  of  proper 
size,  rolled  in  sand  and  placed  in  a  sand  mould,  two  bricks  in 
each  mould.  These  bricks,  when  turned  out  of  the  mould,  had 
to  receive  careful  attention  until  they  were  dry.  They  had  to  be 
turned  over,  stood  on  edge,  taken  in  and  out  of  the  rain,  etc.  The 
men  worked  in  gangs  of  four  and  each  gang  was  expected  to 
make  and  attend  to  3,000  brick  a  day. 

When  the  yard  was  moved  to  Broadway,  a  machine,  whose 
motive  power  was  an  old  blind  horse,  was  substituted  for  spades 
in  grinding  the  clay.  Moulds  for  three  bricks  were  used  and 
"slop"  brick  were  made — that  is,  brick  with  wet  moulds  instead 
of  sand  moulds.* 

Brick  buildings  soon  began  to  be  numerous.  The  first  brick 
made  was  used  in  the  foundation  of  the  barn  now  standing  on 
Johns'  Hill,  and  the  first  house  built  of  Decatur  brick  was  the 
Johns  residence. 

*I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Henry  Meyer,  who  has  lived  for  forty-five  years 
on  the  corner  of  Decatur  and  Peake  streets,  for  the  above  history  of  De- 
catur brick.  Mr.  Meyer  joined  his  brother  in  the  work  at  the  time  the 
yards  were  transferred  to  Broadway. 


49 

This  house  has  the  unique  distinction  of  standing  in  the  mid- 
dle of  a  farm  of  160  acres,  located  in  the  heart  of  a  city  of  35,000 
people.  A  deed  of  trust,  made  in  1852,  which  has  been  pro- 
nounced invincible  by  the  supreme  court  of  Illinois,  prevents  it 
from  being  divided,  sold  or  mortgaged.  All  the  wood  work  in  the 
building — joists,  rafters,  floors  and  finishings — are  Macon  coun- 
ty products.  It  has  upon  it  today  a  tin  roof,  which  in  fifty-eight 
years  has  never  required  a  patch.  It  has  been  frequently  painted ; 
some  of  the  joints  have  been  resoldered ;  the  edges  have  twice 
been  nailed  down  on  new  wood,  but  the  entire  roof  is  of  the  origi- 
nal tin.* 

There  is  in  the  garden  of  this  house  an  asparagus  bed,  which 
for  fifty-six  years  has  never  failed  to  yield  an  abundant  crop,  and 
has  never  had  a  new  plant  set  in  it.  I  think  this  and  the  Orlando 
Powers  house,  built  the  same  year,  are  the  only  homes  in  Decatur, 
built  before  1860,  that  are  now  occupied  by  the  original  owners 
or  their  descendants. 

The  wind  storm  of  April  25,  1912,  blew  part  of  the  roof  off  the  east 
wing  of  the  house. 


CHAPTER  X. 
MANUFACTURES  BEGIN 

Very  few  of  the  infant  industries  and  business  enterprises  of 
early  Decatur  survive.  The  old  well  known  firms  of  Stamper  & 
Condell,  E.  O.  &  T.  O.  Smith,  C.  H.  Wingate,  Jasper  Peddecord, 
Henry  Prather,  who  were  the  merchants  and  produce  dealers  of 
the  early  days,  are  all  extinct.  Franklin  Priest  and  his  brother, 
Valentine,  were  the  originators  of  many  varied  and  complex  in- 
dustrial enterprises,  but  they  too  have  disappeared  from  the 
records  of  Decatur's  prosperity. 

The  old  Priest  mill,  which  stood  near  the  intersection  of  De- 
catur and  Franklin  streets,  was  for  years  the  busiest  place  in  the 
town.  It  was  no  unusual  thing  to  see  from  a  dozen  to  twenty 
wagons,  loaded  with  corn  and  wheat,  waiting  their  turn  to  have 
their  grist  ground.  They  came  from  a  radius  of  fifty  miles  and 
waited  patiently,  sometimes  for  twenty-four  hours,  before  they 
could  be  served.  The  grain  was  crushed  and  ground  into  flour 
and  meal  by  old-fashioned  mill  stones  that,  like  the  mills  of  the 
gods,  ground  slowly.  The  mill  received  a  certain  per  cent,  of  its 
products  as  toll  and  the  farmers  took  home  in  the  bags,  in  which 
they  had  brought  the  grain  to  the  mill,  their  flour,  midlings  and 
bran. 

Priest's  mill  was  destroyed  by  fire  some  time  in  the  sixties.  In 
the  vicinity  of  the  old  mill,  a  saw  mill,  cooper  shop  and  a  variety 
store,  blacksmith  shop  and  a  tannery  were  located.  Southwest  of 
these  there  was  a  brick  yard.  These  were  all  managed  and  capi- 
talized by  Franklin  Priest  and  his  brother,  Valentine.  Mr.  Priest 
later  built  a  hotel,  ran  an  omnibus  line  and  was  four  times  mayor 
of  Decatur.  Had  he  lived  in  modern  times,  he  would  have  been 
classed  as  one  of  the  captains  of  industry. 

Pork  packing  was  at  one  time  the  most  important  factor  in 
Decatur  business.  Henry  Prather  and  J.  J.  Peddecord  operated 
an  extensive  packing  and  rendering  establishment,  located  about 

50 


MANUFACTURES  BEGIN  51 

where  the  M.  &  C.  coal  shaft  now  stands.  William  Martin  also 
bought  dressed  hogs  and  had  a  packing  house  where  the  furniture 
factory  was  afterwards  built.  Mr.  Martin  introduced  sugar  cured 
hams  and  bacon  and  the  reputation  of  "Martin's  sugar  cured 
hams"  extended  to  New  Orleans  and  New  York.  The  demand 
was  greater  than  the  supply. 

For  many  years  pork  and  beef  were  the  principal  sources  of 
revenue  and  medium  of  exchange  in  the  community.  Every  house- 
holder had  a  pig  pen  and  hogs  were  the  street  scavengers.  Cen- 
tral park  was  a  mass  of  hazel  bushes  and  the  town  hogs  fared 
well  on  the  free  mast.  It  cost  more  than  it  was  worth  to  ship  * 
corn  to  market  in  any  other  form  than  in  pork  and  lard.  Farm- 
ers bought  their  groceries  and  hardware  and  drygoods  on  credit 
and  paid  the  bills  once  a  year  in  pork,  which  was  shipped  by  the 
packers  to  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  or  New  York.  The  ship- 
ments were  sometimes  delayed  by  the  ice  in  the  Illinois  river  so 
that  there  would  often  be  stored  in  the  "Old  Round  Top"  ware- 
house thousands  of  pounds  of  pork  and  hundreds  of  barrels  of 
lard,  awaiting  shipment  by  wagon  to  Naples,  thence  by  flatboats 
and  barges  down  the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi  rivers,  finding  a 
market  enroute  at  St.  Louis  or  New  Orleans,  if  not  shipped  by 
sailing  vessels  to  New  York.  Merchandise  imported  into  Deca- 
tur  was  usually  paid  for  in  the  eastern  market  with  meat  instead 
of  money. 

The  old  "Round  Top,"  which  had  formerly  been  the  shelter 
for  a  grist  mill,  operated  by  horse  power,  stood  on  the  north- 
west corner  of  South  Main  and  Wood  streets,  and  was  used  as 
a  pork  packing  house  by  Prather  and  Peddecord. 

The  Mueller  Manufacturing  company  is  the  only  one  of  De- 
catur's  present  numerous  factories  that  had  its  origin  before  the 
war.  In  1857,  Mr.  Hieronymus  Mueller  opened  a  little  gun  shop 
on  West  Main  street,  where,  through  his  inventive  genius  and  un- 
tiring energy,  he  established  a  trade  that  now  encircles  the  globe. 
He  educated  his  six  sons,  each  according  to  his  own  peculiar  bent, 
to  take  some  special  position  in  his  manufacturing  enterprise,  and 
today  each  of  those  sons  occupies  the  position  his  father  designed 
and  trained  him  for,  and  by  their  united  ability,  integrity  and  in- 
dustry are  supplying  the  world  with  the  products  of  their  father's 


52  EARLY  DECATUR 

genius.  The  story  of  his  inventions  of  the  "water  main  tapping 
machine"  is  so  characteristic  and  so  interesting  that,  though  it  is 
of  later  date  than  that  of  my  story,  I  take  the  liberty  of  quoting  it 
from  the  "Mueller  Semi-Centennial  Memorial :" 

The  building  of  the  water  works  in  1870  afforded  the  first  noteworthy 
opportunity  for  the  expansion  of  the  business  and  Mr.  Mueller  was  quick 
to  grasp  and  turn  it  to  advantage.  There  had  previously  been  no  need  of 
plumbing  firms  in  this  city  but  the  establishment  of  the  water  works  created 
the  necessity  which  was  met  and  the  initial  step  taken  leading  to  a  manu- 
facturing enterprise.  ,  It  also  was  the  doorway  leading  to  the  first  important 
invention — the  water  main  tapping  machine. 

Martin  Forstmeyer  was  mayor  of  the  city  and  appointed  Mr.  Mueller 
as  city  tapper,  the  duties  of  which  position  consisted  in  making  service  con- 
nections with  the  street  mains.  The  primitive  method  of  making  a  tap 
was  a  repugnant  and  unmechanical  operation  objectionable  to  as  finished 
a  mechanic  as  Mr.  Mueller.  The  hole  was  drilled  until  only  a  thin  piece 
of  iron  remained  to  retain  the  water  in  the  main  and  with  a  hammer  a 
corporation  cock  was  driven  through.  In  most  cases  before  this  could  be 
done  a  great  deal  of  water  had  escaped.  One  day  a  workman  had  failed 
in  inserting  a  corporation  cock,  Mr.  Mueller  himself  went  into  the  trench 
and  by  the  time  he  had  succeeded  found  himself  engulfed  to  the  neck  in 
water.  When  he  finally  completed  the  work,  he  said,  "This  thing  has  got 
to  stop." 

From  that  moment  until  the  tapping  machine  was  a  reality,  his  mind 
was  in  a  state  of  unrest.  He  concentrated  his  inventive  power  upon  the  one 
idea  to  the  extent  that  some  intimate  with  him  thought  it  would  be  his  men- 
tal undoing.  After  weeks  of  study  he  leaped  from  his  bed  one  night,  ex- 
claiming vehemently,  "I  have  got  it."  The  perplexing  problem  which  had 
befogged  his  mind  was  suddenly  solved  and  in  an  instant  the  principle 
stood  out  plainly.  Unwilling  to  trust  his  memory,  he  seized  a  piece  of  pa- 
per and  made  a  rough  sketch  of  his  plan.  After  that  there  never  was  a 
doubt  as  to  the  ultimate  success  of  the  tapper.  The  following  day  Mr. 
Mueller  secured  drafts  of  his  plan  and,  step  by  step,  the  tapping  machine 
was  developed,  crude  at  first  it  is  true,  but  none  the  less  effective.  Im- 
provements were  made  as  shown  necessary  by  actual  service  and  it  was 
not  long  before  the  demand  for  machines  began.  Other  inventions  in  water 
works  goods  came.more  easily  and  rapidly. 

Another  of  Mr.  Mueller's  inventions  which  is  used  the  world 
over  is  the  water  pressure  regulator,  and  the  Mueller  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  with  an  annual  output  of  about  $2,000,000  worth  of 
manufactured  goods,  has  branch  offices  and  stores  in  almost 
every  important  city  in  the  union,  and  ships  goods  every  day  to 
every  civilized  country  in  the  world. 

The  Morehouse  &  Wells  establishment,  partly  industrial  and 
partly  commercial,  is  the  only  other  enterprise  of  any  note  that 
had  its  beginning  before  the  war.  In  1859,  a  hardware  store  and 
tin  shop  was  opened  by  that  firm  on  the  same  site  that  is  now 
occupied  by  their  magnificent  wholesale  and  retail  establishment. 


CHAPTER  XL 
INFLUENCE  OF  PIONEER  TEACHERS 

I  do  not  think  that  Decatur  ever  suffered  from  that  class  of 
schoolmasters  usually  credited  to  pioneer  communities — "men 
who  were  either  too  lazy  or  too  'onery'  to  do  anything  else." 
Governor  Oglesby  went  to  school  to  Lemuel  Allen.  Mrs.  Lemuel 
Allen  taught  a  school  for  girls.  Captain  J.  S.  Post  taught  school 
while  he  studied  law.  These  were  all  people  of  refinement  and 
fair  education,  who  taught,  more  for  the  accommodation  of  their 
neighbors  than  for  the  money  there  was  in  it.  But  to  Mrs.  Al- 
mira  A.  Powers  and  her  sister,  Miss  Maria  Giles,  is  Decatur  in- 
debted for  raising  the  standard  of  education  above  that  of  its 
day  and  generation. 

When  I  came  to  Decatur,  Miss  Giles  was  teaching  a  class  of 
eighteen  young  ladies  in  a  building  on  Franklin  street  which  is  still 
standing.  This  school  room  was  a  near  neighbor  to  the  Macon 
House  where  I  lived  and  my  piano  became  a  magnet  that  drew 
me  into  close  intimacy  with  these  girls  and  their  teacher. 

When  Miss  Giles  was  married  to  Henry  Elliott,  Mrs.  Powers 
opened  a  school  for  children,  both  boys  and  girls,  in  her  own 
home  on  the  corner  where  the  public  library  building  was  after- 
wards erected.  She  introduced  many  educational  innovations,  such 
as  defining  words  when  they  were  spelled  and  constructing  sen- 
tences containing  them,  solving  practical  problems  in  arithmetic 
instead  of  simply  learning  the  tables  and  ciphering  sums  in  addi- 
tion and  subtraction  and  multiplication.  She  also  introduced 
"moral  suasion"  instead  of  the  rod,  where  she  found  it  practical, 
though  the  rod  still  held  its  place  in  discipline. 

Mrs.  Powers  taught  in  Decatur  for  seven  years  and  many  of 
our  best  men  and  women  of  today  trace  their  first  aspirations  for 
higher  education  to'  her  guiding  hand.  Robert  Montgomery,  Cy- 
rus Imboden,  W.  C.  Johns,  Mrs.  Vennigerholz,  Mrs.  Kanan  and 
many  other  old  citizens  delight  to  recall  their  school  days  with 

S3 


54  EARLY  DECATUR 

Mrs.  Powers  and  attribute  to  her  much  of  their  success  in  life. 

Mrs.  Powers  lived  in  Decatur  more  than  fifty  years  and  was 
always  a  leader  in  any  good  work  that  promised  to  promote  the 
welfare  of  the  city  of  her  adoption.  She  was  the  first  president 
of  the  Ladies'  Library  Association  and  took  a  prominent  part  in 
the  transfer  of  the  library  to  the  city  and  the  establishment  of 
the  public  library  that  now  stands  on  the  site  of  her  old  home. 

The  wisdom  of  the  fathers  and  the  lack  of  wisdom  in  their 
descendants  is  illustrated  by  the  early  grants  of  public  lands  for 
educational  purposes  and  their  subsequent  dissipation  and  waste, 
by  later  generations.  On  May  20,  1787,  the  Continental  congress, 
in  an  act  providing  for  the  disposal  of  public  lands  in  the  great 
northwestern  territory,  reserved  "640  acres  in  every  township  ir 
that  vast  domain  for  the  maintenance  of  public  schools  in  that 
township,"  and  later,  the  enabling  act,  which  granted  statehood  to 
Illinois,  provided  that  "thirty-six  sections,  or  one  entire  township 
in  the  state  should  be  reserved  for  the  use  of  a  seminary  of 
learning  in  the  state."  A  further  provision  of  this  act  appro- 
priated two-sixths  of  five  per  cent,  of  the  net  proceeds  of  th« 
sale  of  public  lands  in  the  state  for  the  "encouragement  of  learn- 
ing," of  which  one-sixth  part  was  to  be  "exclusively  bestowed  on 
a  college  or  university." 

At  a  very  early  date  Dr.  William  S.  Crissey,  who  owned  a 
farm  west  of  town,  made  a  strenuous  effort  to  secure  the  location 
of  the  proposed  state  college  in  Decatur.  For  that  purpose  he 
proposed  to  donate  to  the  state  "The  Mound,"  afterward  known 
as  College  Hill  (on  North  street,  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Silas 
Packard  and  Mrs.  William  H.  Ennis).  When  he  failed  to  se- 
cure the  state  institution,  he  bequeathed  the  square  to  the  "Mis- 
sionary society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Illinois." 
There  was  no  such  society  and  the  property  reverted  to  Dr.  Cris- 
sey's  heirs. 

For  many  years  College  Hill  was  used  as  public  property.  The 
first  companies  enlisted  for  the  civil  war  rendezvoused  there  and 
were  organized  and  sworn  in  on  College  Hill.  A  tabernacle  was 
once  built  there  in  which  a  Sunday  school  convention  was  held.  It 
was  the  first  play  ground  and  for  years  the  boys  played  "shinny" 


INFLUENCE  OF  PIONEER  TEACHERS  55 

on  "the  Mound."  When  the  houses  now  standing  were  built  the 
top  of  the  hill  was  graded  and  its  height  greatly  reduced. 

The  pioneers  of  Macon  county  did  not  hasten  to  take  advan- 
tage of  these  "stupendous  gifts  to  education."  Twelve  thousand 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  were  at  their  disposal,  yet 
they  had  no  free  schools  before  1855.  A  law  was  passed  in  1849 
which  provided  that  the  people  of  the  state  might  vote  on  a  tax 
to  be  levied  for  schools  and  at  an  election  held  in  Decatur  town- 
ship, July,  1851,  thirty  votes  were  cast  for  and  twelve  against  a 
levy  of  10  cents  on  $100  valuation  for  school  purposes.  This  was 
the  first  school  tax  ever  paid  in  the  county  but  there  is  no  record 
of  how  it  was  expended. 

The  state  school  law,  passed  in  1855,  gave  township  trustees 
the  power  to  levy  taxes  for  schools  and  in  April  of  that  year,  I.  C. 
Pugh  and  William  Crissey,  trustees,  gave  public  notice  that  they 
had  required  to  be  levied  a  school  tax  for  1855,  the  rate  of  three 
mills  on  each  dollar  of  taxable  property  in  the  township.  There 
was  also  notice  in  the  same  year  of  the  imposition  of  a  tax  of  50 
cents  on  the  $100  valuation  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  school 
house,  which  was  signed  by  Daniel  Barnes,  president  and  E.  G. 
Falconer,  clerk. 

The  first  property  purchased  for  a  school  house  was  the  lot 
on  which  the  E.  A.  Gastman  school  now  stands,  for  which  the 
trustees  paid  E.  D.  Carter  $800.  A  few  months  later,  David  Al- 
len and  Thomas  Read  deeded  to  the  city  of  Decatur,  "for  edu- 
cational purposes,"  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the  Citizens  National 
bank,  "for  a  consideration  of  five  dollars."  This  lot,  practically  a 
donation,  was  sold  for  $1,000  to  the  "Macon  Lodge  of  Masons." 
The  Masons  built  upon  it  a  brick  building  which  for  many  years 
figured  in  Decatur  history.  The  lower  floor  of  the  building  was 
rented  to  churches  and  schools  and  for  public  meetings  and  enter- 
tainments. The  lodge  room  on  the  second  floor  was  for  months 
loaned  to  the  Hospital  Aid  society  for  their  weekly  meetings.  It 
was  torn  down  about  1883  and  replaced  by  the  three  story  Ha- 
worth  block,  which  was  for  years  the  handsomest  building  in  De- 
catur. The  Citizens  Title  &  Trust  building  now  occupies  that 
corner. 


56  EARLY  DECATUK 

In  1856,  the  directors,  J.  J.  Peddecord,  E.  O.  Smith  and  P.  B. 
Shepherd,  commenced  the  building  of  a  brick  school  house  on  the 
lot  previously  purchased  from  E.  D.  Carter.  Under  date  of 
February  25,  1856,  David  Welkin,  of  Bloomington,  writes  to  the 
"Illinois  Teacher,"  published  in  Peoria: 

"A  few  days  since  I  visited  Decatur,  a  town  of  2,500  inhabi- 
tants. They  are  making  arrangements  to  put  up  a  large  brick 
building  next  summer  for  the  use  of  a  graded  school.  J.  H. 
Remsburg  and  lady  have  charge  of  a  flourishing  institute,  with 
140  pupils,  while  the  high  school,  with  180  pupils,  is  taught  by 
John  W.  Coleman,  assisted  by  his  wife  and  Miss  Ela.  There  is 
also  a  female  seminary  under  the  care  of  Mrs.  A.  A.  Powers  and 
a  school  taught  by  Miss  Gillespie." 

The  new  building  was  opened  in  the  fall  of  1857,  with  J.  H. 
Remsburg,  principal,  D.  L.  Bunn  and  Miss  Helen  E.  Parsons 
(Mrs.  William  Wells),  'assistants  up  stairs.'  " 

On  the  1 2th  day  of  June,  1862,  an  election  was  held  at  which 
it  was  ordered  that  a  "special  levy  of  twenty-five  cents  on  the 
hundred  dollars  should  be  made  to  buy  a  lot  and  build  a  school 
house  in  the  third  ward."  A  site  was  selected,  the  plans  drawn 
and  the  contract  for  the  building  was  let  to  Mills  and  Shockley, 
but  on  the  3Oth  of  July  following,  the  directors  voted  "that  in 
view  of  the  present  unsettled  state  of  the  country,  it  is  ordered 
that  the  levy  of  tax  for  building  a  school  house  as  authorized  by 
vote,  be  postponed  for  the  present  year  and  the  building  of  the 
house  be  suspended,  until  such  time  as  it  may  be  deemed  more 
expedient  to  make  the  levy  authorized."  The  directors,  however, 
ordered  the  treasurer,  John  P.  Miles,  to  procure  a  clear  title  to  the 
lot  contracted  for,  and  he  was  "authorized  to  pay  therefore  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  currency,"  to  procure  which  he  was 
ordered  to  "sell  coin  belonging  to  the  district  to  the  best  advan- 
tage and  give  the  district  credit  with  the  premium."  And  the 
Wood  street  school  lot  was  bought  at  $75  gold  value  from  Or- 
lando Powers. 

On  the  twelfth  day  of  July,  1862,  Enoch  A.  Gastman  was 
elected  principal  of  all  the  schools  at  a  salary  of  $80  currency  for 
the  school  year  of  six  months.  At  the  election  held  in  1863,  129 


INFLUENCE  OF  PIONEER  TEACHERS  57 

votes  were  cast  for  increasing  the  school  year  to  nine  months.  Six 
votes  were  against  the  proposition.  In  1864,  the  electors  voted 
again  for  or  against  a  nine  months  school  and  167  votes  were 
cast  for  and  twenty-seven  against  the  proposition. 

The  following  extract  from  a  report  on  public  schools,  written 
by  Mr.  Gastman,  explains  why  and  how  Decatur  has  a  "Special 
Charter"  for  her  schools. 

About  this  time,  it  became  evident  to  the  directors  that  the  powers 
which  they  were  given  by  the  state  law  for  the  management  of  the  schools 
of  a  rural  district  were  not  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  carry  on  efficiently 
the  schools  of  a  rapidly  growing  city.  It  was  difficult  often  to  purchase  a 
desirable  school  site,  because  the  owners  were  unwilling  to  have  it  publicly 
advertised  that  they  would  sell  property  to  be  used  for  a  public  school 
because  it  might  injure  the  sale  of  other  adjacent  property.  Another  class 
of  owners  was  anxious  to  have  a  school  house  erected  near  their  additions 
because  it  would  attract  the  attention  of  desirable  purchasers  to  their  lots. 
A  public  election  gave  such  persons  an  excellent  opportunity  to  work  for 
their  own  private  interests.  Again,  the  directors  had  no  power  to  borrow 
money  and  this  made  it  very  difficult  to  erect  needed  school  buildings. 

After  a  good  deal  of  discussion  and  inquiry,  it  was  decided  to  request 
the  legislature  to  grant  the  district  a  special  charter.  The  Honorable  New- 
ton Bateman,  state  superintendent,  was  asked  to  recommend  a  charter  that 
was  in  satisfactory  use  in  the  state  which  the  board  might  use  as  a  model. 
He  recommended  the  one  granted  to  the  Rock  Island  school  district  in  1857. 
It  was  carefully  examined  and  such  amendments  made  as  would  adapt  it 
to  the  wants  of  this  district. 

The  bill  was  introduced  in  the  house  of  representatives  by  General 
Isaac  C.  Pugh,  the  member  from  this  city.  It  passed  through  the  legisla- 
ture with  very  little  opposition,  and  it  was  approved  by  Governor  Oglesby, 
February  1 6,  1865. 

This  special  charter  places  the  Decatur  school  district  outside 
the  pale  of  the  general  school  laws  of  the  state.  It  transfers  from 
the  voters  to  a  board  of  education  elected  by  them  the  power  to 
levy  taxes,  select  sites  and  build  school  houses,  and  thus  "takes 
the  schools  out  of  politics."  It  gives  to  this  board  of  education 
almost  autocratic  power.  The  people  elect  one  of  the  three  mem- 
bers of  this  board  every  year  and  give  these  three  persons  entire 
control  of  the  schools  and,  without  any  court  of  last  resort,  the 
power  to  assess  and  expend  the  school  tax  of  the  district.  They 
receive  no  pay  for  their  services,  yet,  though  they  have  unlimited 
control  of  the  school  fund,  I  think  there  has  never  been  the  slight- 
est suspicion  of  graft  or  misappropriation  in  the  fifty-seven  years 
of  the  history  of  the  Decatur  board  of  education. 

I  am  an  advocate  of  the  centralization  of  power  and  responsi- 
bility in  officers  elected  by  the  people  and  I  think  the  history  of 


58  EARLY  DECATUR 

Decatur  public  schools  demonstrates  that  "government  by  the  peo- 
ple by  a  representative  part  of  the  people  for  the  people"  is  in 
most  instances  for  the  benefit  of  the  people.  For  example,  if  the 
location  of  the  new  high  school  had  depended  on  the  vote  of  the 
people,  when  would  it  have  been  built  and  how  much  wire  pulling 
and  graft  would  have  been  required  to  build  it  ? 

Though  Mr.  E.  A.  Gastman's  forty-seven  years  of  connection 
with  the  public  schools  of  Decatur  began  only  two  years  before 
the  period  at  which  this  story  is  supposed  to  end,  his  life  has 
been  linked  with  the  history  of  so  many  people  that  any  history  of 
Decatur  without  a  mention  of  his  name  would  be  most  incom- 
plete. Mr.  Gastman  was  superintendent  of  schools  forty-five 
years  and  in  that  time  affixed  his  signature  to  the  diplomas  of 
1,478  graduates  of  the  Decatur  high  school.  He  was  largely  in- 
strumental in  securing  the  enactment  of  the  special  charter  which 
now  governs  our  schools.  He  also  instituted  many  measures  of 
great  and  permanent  benefit  to  our  schools. 

The  best  years  of  his  life  were  given  to  Decatur  and  his  life 
ended  when  he  had  completed  his  work.  He  died  on  the  third 
day  of  August,  1907,  loved  and  honored  by  thousands  of  Decatur 
citizens. 


PART  TWO— ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"A  blend  of  mirth  and  sadness,  smiles  and  tears, 
A  quaint  knight  errant  of  the  Pioneers. 
A  homely  hero  born  of  star  and  sod, 
A  Peasant  Prince,  a  Masterpiece  of  God." 


CHAPTER  I. 
FIRST  MEETING  IN  1850. 

There  are  three  distinct  phases  in  which  history  must  view 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

First,  as  a  man  of  common  mold,  genial,  kindly  and  ambitious. 

Second,  as  the  bearer  of  a  Nation's  Cross,  misunderstood,  dis- 
trusted, ridiculed  and  maligned.  A  man  of  sorrow  and  ac- 
quainted with  grief. 

The  third  phase  was  not  till  after  death  had  raised  him 
through  victory  to  his  apotheosis,  "A  Masterpiece  of  God." 

It  is  sixty-two  years  since  I  first  met  Mr.  Lincoln,  at  that  time 
a  semi-obscure  lawyer  and  politician,  nowhere  towering  above  his 
fellows  except  in  stature.  He  had  the  local  status  of  an  honest, 
kind,  genial  man,  too  honest,  too  kind,  too  genial  ever  to  become 
a  success  in  the  world.  His  personal  appearance  and  dress  were 
not  sufficiently  marked  to  be  remembered,  yet  I  think  no  man 
ever  knew  him  and  forgot  him.  In  the  light  of  today,  when  "re- 
sults have  thrown  the  mantle  of  greatness  around  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  such  fashion  that  all  the  rugged  outlines  of  his  human  person- 
ality are  in  danger  of  being  lost,"  it  will  be  a  difficult  task  to  re- 
call the  memory  the  man  of  common  mold,  the  Lincoln  whom  I 
personally  knew. 

Biographies  and  histories  that  I  have  consulted  give,  what  to 


59 


60  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

me  is,  a  distorted  view  of  his  personality  and  his  character.  Some 
writers  in  an  effort  to  "reconcile  the  hardships  of  his  early  life, 
his  lack  of  education  and  refined  social  environment,  with  an  un- 
derstanding of  his  literary  style,"  have  made  of  his  early  life  al- 
most a  fairy  tale.  Others,  with  a  well  meaning  purpose  to  em- 
phasize his  rise  from  low  estate  to  the  pinnacle  of  Fame,  have 
depicted  him  as  an  awkward  country  bumpkin  without  dignity 
or  good  manners.  In  biographies,  platform  eulogies  and  in  nov- 
els, he  is  generally  represented  in  the  guise  of  either  a  hero  or  a 
boor.  Winston  Churchill  in  "The  Crisis"  has  made  an  effort  to 
reconcile  the  two,  and  has  created  a  kind  of  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr. 
Hyde  nondescript,  painfully  unlike  the  real  Mr.  Lincoln. 

There  was  undoubtedly  a  time  when  Mr.  Lincoln  split  rails 
and  plowed  with  oxen  in  Macon  county,  and  there  was  a  time 
when  he  practiced  law  in  the  old  log  court  house.  These  events 
the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  have  commemorated, 
and  their  historian  will  recount  the  story.  I  would  like  to  ante- 
date my  own  recollections  with  a  little  story  for  which  I  am  in- 
debted to  Mrs.  Sarah  Powers  Durfee.  It  was  one  of  the  favorite 
stories  of  Mrs.  Almira  A.  Powers,  Mrs.  Durfee's  mother.  The 
incident  occurred  before  Mrs.  Powers  came  to  Decatur  but  was 
told  her  by  Mrs.  Landy  Harrell,  the  "landlady,"  who  heard  the 
speech. 

LINCOLN'S  FIRST  POLITICAL  SPEECH   As  TOLD  BY 
MRS.  SARAH  POWERS  DURFEE 

During  the  few  years  that  Abraham  Lincoln  lived  in  and  near  Decatur, 
he  worked  a  short  time  for  a  man  by  the  name  of  Shepherd,  who  owned  a 
farm  west  of  what  is  now  Church  street,  and  north  of  what  is  West  Main 
street,  then  called  the  "Springfield  road." 

Decatur  was  a  small  village.  In  the  survey  of  the  village  a  square  was 
laid  off  at  an  intersection  of  North  and  South  Main  and  East  and  West 
Main  streets. 

On  this  square,  first  called  "the  square,"  later,  "hay  market,"  then  when 
the  new  square  was  mapped,  "the  old  square,"  and  last  being  suitably  named 
"Lincoln  square,"  for  it  was  here,  in  front  of  where  Central  block  now  is, 
that  Abraham  Lincoln  made  his  first  political  speech.  At  the  southeast 
corner  of  this  square  stood  the  log  court  house,  and  later  the  brick  one,  we 
many  of  us  remember. 

Where  Central  block  now  stands,  there  was  a  two-story  frame  building 
used  for  a  tavern.  In  later  years  it  was  used  as  a  general  merchandise 
store  by  S.  K.  Thompson.  This  building  had  a  long  veranda  across  the 
south  front  in  front  of  which  were  several  forest  trees.  One  of  them  had 
blown  over,  leaving  a  very  splintery  stump. 


FIRST  MEETING  IN  1850  61 

One  day  Abraham  Lincoln  was  plowing  in  the  field  with  a  yoke  of 
oxen.  He  heard  cheering  upon  "the  square,"  so  turned  his  oxen  into  a 
corner,  vaulted  the  fence,  and  went  to  see  what  was  "going  on." 

The  landlady,  who  was  the  eye-witness,  was  sitting  on  the  veranda 
listening  to  a  speech  being  made  by  a  candidate  for  some  Democratic  office 
(Macon  county  was  at  that  time  Democratic).  The  speaker  stood  in  a 
wagon,  pleasing  his  hearers  with  his  remarks  about  his  political  oppon- 
ents, the  "Old  Line  Whigs." 

Lincoln  had  not  studied  law  but  was  reading  as  he  found  time  and 
books,  and  had  accepted  the  "Old  Line  Whig"  party  as  his  choice. 

He  was  described  as  follows :  Very  tall  and  thin ;  wore  a  "hickory" 
shirt  with  collar  of  same,  turned  back  at  his  throat;  a  broad  brimmed 
straw  hat  with  a  piece  fringed  out  at  one  side  and  a  black  string  tied 
around  the  crown  to  make  it  fit  the  head,  and  very  tight  tow-linen  pants, 
much  above  his  bare  feet  and  ankles. 

He  listened  until  the  speaker  had  finished,  and  felt  so  deeply  the  at- 
tack upon  his  party  that  he  jumped  upon  the  "splintery"  stump  and  made 
such  refutations  of  the  charges  that  the  hearers  cheered  him  very  lustily 
for  his  earnestness  and  pluck.  The  only  evidence  of  his  uncomfortable- 
ness  was  that  he  kept  shifting  his  position  to  ease  his  feet. 

It  is  notable  that  this  same  square  now  bears  his  name. 


CHAPTER  II. 
A  REAL  GENTLEMAN. 

When  I  first  knew  Mr.  Lincoln,  he  was  forty  years  old ;  had 
been  a  member  of  the  state  legislature  and  of  congress ;  had 
traveled  the  circuit  with  men  of  culture  and  refinement;  had 
met  great  statesmen  and  elegant  gentlemen;  and  the  ungainli- 
ness  of  the  pioneer,  if  he  ever  had  it,  had  worn  off  and  his  man- 
ner was  that  of  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  unaffected,  unos- 
tentatious, who  "arose  at  once  when  a  lady  entered  the  room,  and 
whose  courtly  manners  would  put  to  shame  the  easy  going  indif- 
ference to  etiquette  which  marks  the  Twentieth  century  gentle- 
man." 

His  dress,  like  his  manner,  was  suited  to  the  occasion,  but  was 
evidently  a  subject  to  which  he  gave  little  thought.  It  was  cer- 
tainly unmarked  by  any  notable  peculiarity.  It  was  the  fashion  of 
the  day  for  men  to  wear  large  shawls  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  shawl, 
very  large,  very  soft  and  very  fine,  is  the  only  article  of  his  dress 
that  has  left  the  faintest  impression  on  my  memory.  He  wore  it 
folded  lengthwise  (three  and  one-half  yards  long)  in  scarf  fash- 
ion over  his  shoulders,  caught  together  under  the  chin  with  an  im- 
mense safety  pin.  One  end  of  the  shawl  was  thrown  across  his 
breast  and  over  the  shoulder,  as  he  walked  up  the  steps  of  the 
Macon  House  one  day  in  December,  1849. 

Court  was  in  session  in  Decatur,  Judge  David  Davis  presid- 
ing. The  hotel  where  I  was  living  temporarily,  was  kept  by  Da- 
vid Krone  and  his  good  lady,  whose  popularity  extended  over  the 
fourteen  counties  of  the  Eighth  judicial  district. 

Court  week  was  always  anticipated  with  great  interest  by  the 
people  of  the  county  seat.  It  was  customary  for  the  entire  bar  of 
the  district  to  follow  the  court  from  county  to  county,  every  man 
either  seeking  new  business,  or  as  counsel  in  cases  already  on  the 

62 


A  REAL  GENTLEMAN  63 

docket.  The  date  of  their  arrival  at  any  particular  county  seat 
could  not  be  definitely  fixed,  as  the  judge  held  court  at  his  plea- 
sure, usually  trying  to  finish  all  the  business  ahead  before  he  mi- 
grated to  the  next  station. 

He  was  followed  by  a  curious  crowd.  Lawyers,  clients,  wit- 
nesses, itinerant  peddlers,  showmen  and  gamblers  filled  the  towns 
to  overflowing.  x  It  was  no  unusual  thing  for  men,  who  had  no 
business  in  the  court,  to  follow  from  town  to  town  merely  seeking 
entertainment.  Social  events  of  any  moment  were  wont  to  be  ar- 
ranged for  court  week,  as  the  harvest  time,  when  strangers  could 
be  taken  in.  Taverns  were  crowded  and  the  hospitality  of  the 
people  was  taxed  to  the  utmost  limit. 

To  the  men  of  the  town,  who  always  crowded  the  court  house, 
the  examination  of  witnesses  and  the  speeches  of  the  lawyers  fur- 
nished an  intellectual  treat,  for  there  were  giants  at  that  bar. 
"There  was  David  Davis,  the  companionable  judge,  who  knew  the 
law  and  who  loved  a  laugh.  And  there  were  Stephen  Logan  the 
scholarly,  and  Stuart  the  shrewd  and  kindly,  Swett  the  clever,  and 
Browning  the  handsome,  and  Lamon  the  amusing,  and  Weldon 
and  Gridley  and  Parks  and  Harmon  and  Ficklin  and  Linder  and 
Whitney  and  Oliver  L.  Davis,  and  the  best  beloved  Abraham  Lin- 
coln."* Some  of  them  traveled  to  only  two  or  three  counties,  but 
Judge  Davis,  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Leonard  Swett  went  the  whole 
circuit ;  Davis  because  he  had  to,  Lincoln  because  he  loved  it  and 
Swett  because  he  loved  their  company. 

The  Macon  House  was  an  oasis  in  the  wilderness  of  miserable 
inns  at  which  they  were  usually  compelled  to  "put  up."  In  Deca- 
tur  they  found  clean  beds,  good  bread  and  an  abundance  of  the 
good  things  of  the  season,  administered  by  a  genial  landlady  who 
greeted  them  all  as  friends. 

It  was  in  court  week  that  my  piano,  after  a  long  journey  by 
steamer  down  the  Ohio  and  up  the  Wabash  to  Crawfordsville, 
Ind.,  and  thence  by  wagon,  arrived  in  Decatur.  The  wagon  was 
backed  up  to  the  steps  at  the  front  door  of  the  Macon  House  and 
the  question  of  how  to  unload  it  and  get  it  into  the  house  was  a 
puzzling  one.  Not  a  man  except  the  landlord  was  to  be  found, 

*Quoted  from  an  address  read  before  the  American  Bar  association 
at  Chattanooga,  Sept.  I,  1910,  by  Charles  W.  Moore,  of  Indianapolis. 


64  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

but  he  soon  solved  the  problem.  "Court  will  soon  adjourn  and 
there  will  be  plenty  of  men,"  and  almost  as  he  spoke  the  crowd 
began  to  appear.  They  gathered  curiously  around  the  wagon 
that  blocked  the  entrance.  Landlord  Krone  explained : 

"There  is  a  piano  in  that  box  that  this  woman  here  wants 
some  one  to  help  unload.  Who  will  lend  a  hand  ?" 

A  tall  gentleman  stepped  forward  and,  throwing  off  a  big  gray 
Scotch  shawl,  exclaimed,  "Come  on  Swett,  you  are  the  next  big- 
gest man." 

That  was  my  first  meeting  with  Abraham  Lincoln. 

After  a  few  moments  consultation  with  the  driver  of  the 
wagon,  Mr.  Lincoln  went  into  the  basement  where  Mr.  Krone 
had  a  carpenter  shop,  and  returned  with  two  heavy  timbers  across 
his  shoulders.  With  them  he  established  communication  between 
the  wagon  and  the  front  door  steps."""  The  piano  was  iJhloaded 
with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Linder  and  Mr.  Swett,  amid  jokes  and 
jeers  galore,  most  of  the  jeers  coming  from  little  Judge  Logan. 

Before  the  legs  had  been  screwed  into  place,  dinner  was  an- 
nounced, and  the  men  hurried  to  the  back  porch  where  two  tin 
wash  basins,  a  long  roller  towel  and  a  coarse  comb,  fastened  to 
the  wall  by  a  long  string,  afforded  toilet  accommodations  for  all 
guests.  When  dinner  was  served,  "Mother  Krone"  placed  a  roast 
of  beef  in  front  of  Dr.  Trowbridge  to  be  carved  and  exclaimed : 
"Men,  if  you  can't  get  your  teeth  through  this  beef  you  will  have 
to  fall  back  on  the  sausage.  I  agreed  to  try  roasting  it  without 
parboiling  it,  and  I  am  afraid  it  will  be  tougher  than  it  was  yes- 
terday, and  that  was  bad  enough." 

The  beef,  however,  proved  to  be  tender  and  juicy  and  was 
highly  praised  by  the  guests.  I  recall  this  incident  because  Mr. 
Lincoln  once  reminded  me  of  it,  saying  that  "that  was  the  time  he 
learned  that  roast  beef  ought  not  to  be  boiled." 

After  dinner,  Mr.  Lincoln  superintended  the  setting  up  of  the 
piano,  even  to  seeing  that  it  stood  squarely  in  the  center  of  the 
wall  space  allotted  it,  and  then  received  my  thanks  with  a  polite 
bow  and  asked :  "Are  you  expecting  to  follow  the  court  and  give 
concerts?"  The  immense  relief  expressed  on  his  countenance, 


A  REAL  GENTLEMAN  65 

when  he  was  assured  that  he  would  not  be  called  upon  to  repeat 
the  performance,  was  very  laughable. 

"Then  may  we  have  one  tune  before  we  go  ?"  he  asked,  and  I 
played  "Rosin  the  Bow,"  with  variations. 

Some  one  shouted,  "Come  on  boys,  the  judge  will  be  waiting^' 
and  after  I  had  assured  them  that  if  they  desired  it,  \  would  give 
my  "first  and  only  concert  on  this  circuit"  when  they  returned  to 
the  hotel  in  the  evening,  the  crowd  dispersed. 

Here  I  wish  to  note  that  in  the  crowd  that  had  assembled  to 
watch  the  unloading  of  the  piano,  the  members  of  the  bar,  Mr 
Lincoln's  friends  and  equals,  always  addressed  him  as  "Mr.  Lin* 
coin,"  while  to  the  rabble  and  hangers-on  he  was  often  "Abe." 

The  piano  was  a  "Gilbert,"  made  in  Boston,  and  its  fame  ex- 
extended  far  and  wide.  It  was  visited  by  people  from  all  over  the 
state,  stage  coach  passengers  frequently  "holding  the  stage"  while 
they  "went  down  to  the  other  tavern  (the  Harrell  House  was  the 
stage  office)  to  see  and  hear  the  novel  instrument. 

That  evening  a  notable  crowd  assembled  in  the  parlor  of  the 
Macon  House.  Judge  Davis,  who  did  not  "put  up"  with  Land- 
lord Krone  but  was  the  guest  of  Mrs.  A.  A.  Powers,  came  in  af- 
ter supper;  and  practically  all  of  the  bar  of  the  Eighth  judicial 
district  was  present  at  what  I  suppose  we  would  now  call  a  recital. 
I  found  that  Mr.  Charles  Brown,  a  wealthy  land  owner  and  stock 
dealer  of  McLean  county,  not  only  sang  but  played  a  little  and  I 
called  on  him  for  assistance. 

The  program,  as  I  remember  it,  will  illustrate  the  style  of 
music  in  vogue  at  that  period. 

For  show  pieces,  I  played  the  "Battle  of  Prague"  and  the 
"Carnival  of  Venice,"  then  followed  with  "Washington's  March," 
"Come  Haste  to  the  Wedding"  and  'Woodup  Quick  Step"  to  con- 
vince the  audience  that  I  "did  know  a  tune"  or  two.  For  tragedy, 
I  sang  Henry  Russel's  "Maniac"  and  "The  Ship  on  Fire,"  and 
then  made  "their  blood  run  cold"  with  the  wild  wail  of  the  "Irish 
Mother's  Lament."  For  comic,  we  sang  "The  Widdy  McGee" 
and  "I  Won't  Be  a  Nun,"  topping  off  with  "Old  Dan  Tucker," 
"Lucy  Long"  and  "Jim  Crow,"  the  crowd  joining  in  the  chorus. 
These  were  followed  by  more  serious  music.  Mr.  Brown  and  Mr. 


66  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Swett  joined  me  in  the  duet  "Moonlight,  Music,  Love  and  Flow- 
ers," "Rocked  in  the  Cradle  of  the  Deep,"  "Pilgr'm  Fathers," 
"Bonaparte's  Grave"  and  "Kathleen  Mavourneen."  Each  and 
all  met  with  applause. 

As  a  finale,  I  sang  "He  Doeth  All  Things  Well"  after  which 
Mr.  Lincoln,  in  a  very  grave  manner,  thanked  me  for  the  even- 
ing's entertainment,  and  said:  "Don't  let  us  spoil  that  song  by 
any  other  music  tonight."  Many  times  afterwards  I  sang  that 
song  for  Mr.  Lincoln  and  for  Governor  Oglesby,  with  whom  it 
was  also  a  favorite. 


CHAPTER  III. 
A  GUEST  IN  THE  HOME. 

I  once  heard  Mr.  Lincoln  make  a  speech,  and  only  once,  and 
I  cannot  recall  my  impression  of  that  speech  or  even  the  partic- 
ular phase  of  the  political  situation  upon  which  he  spoke.  A 
largely  attended  Republican  meeting  was  held  in  the  woods,  just 
east  of  the  Central  Railroad  and  south  of  William  street.  I  can 
remember  the  fiery  eloquence  of  Owen  Lovejoy  and  the  sarcastic 
wit  of  "Long  John"  Wentworth,  but  Mr.  Lincoln's  speech  seems 
to  have  left  no  impression. 

We  had  as  guests  at  dinner  that  day  the  gentlemen  who  were 
to  speak  in  the  afternoon,  and  while  the  others  drew  together  to 
discuss  the  news  of  the  day,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  my  little  Fanny  on 
his  knee,  put  one  arm  around  Corwin  and  told  them  stories  for 
half  an  hour.  That  was  his  way  of  resting.  His  fondness  for 
children  and  their  love  for  him  were  always  in  evidence.  I  think 
he  never  passed  a  child  without  a  smile  and  a  touch  that  seemed 
a  benediction. 

Twice,  before  this  last  visit,  we  had  entertained  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  our  home  on  the  farm.  One  of  these  visits  is  made  memorable 
by  the  fact  that  on  that  day  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  the  prosecuting 
attorney  in  a  case  in  court  in  which  Dr.  Johns  was  accused  of  as- 
sault and  battery  with  intent  to  kill.  The  story  of  that  trial  is  so 
illustrative  of  the  spirit  of  the  time  that  I  think  it  worth  while 
the  telling. 

We  had  brought  with  us  from  Cincinnati,  Alice,  a  girl  about 
fifteen  years  old,  as  nurse  for  our  children.  The  position  and 
status  of  this  girl,  "who  did  not  come  to  the  table,"  was  the  sub- 
ject of  a  great  deal  of  conjecture  and  curiosity  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. There  had  "squatted  in  the  timber,"  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  our  home,  a  typical  pioneer  from  North  Carolina.  He 
with  his  wife,  one  daughter  and  eight  sons,  occupied  a  log  cabin 
with  one  room  and  a  loft  and  lived  by  hunting  and  fishing.  The 

67 


68  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

oldest  boy  was  about  eighteen.  No  member  of  the  family  could 
read  or  write,  but  the  old  man  and  one  of  the  boys  could  play  the 
violin.  Alice,  in  her  walks  with  the  children,  had  formed  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  "See  boys,"  and  had  frequently  visited  their 
cabin  "unbeknownst  to  her  mistress."  One  night  she  clandes- 
tinely went  to  a  dance  with  Joe  See,  and  at  daylight,  not  having 
returned  home,  Dr.  Johns  went  to  seek  her  and  found  her  at 
the  See  cabin.  He  ordered  her  to  return  home  and  she  refused. 
She  "was  not  his  slave,"  he  had  "no  right  to  order  her."  Mr.  See 
was  going  to  take  her  to  Monticello  that  morning  and  "get  her  set 
free." 

The  united  See  family  was  more  than  "the  doctor  cared  to 
tackle"  alone,  so  he  came  home  and  reported  that  the  old  man, 
with  Alice  in  the  wagon,  had  started  to  Monticello.  They  were 
obliged  to  pass  through  a  dense  grove  of  trees  and  brush  where 
the  cleared  road  was  very  narrow,  and  there  Dr.  Johns  and  two 
of  his  men  waylaid  them.  At  the  proper  moment  Frank  Huston, 
with  a  rifle  in  his  hand,  stepped  out  of  the  woods  and  halted  the 
wagon.  Dr.  Johns  took  hold  of  the  girl  and  while  trying  to  forci- 
bly lift  her  to  the  ground,  was  struck  on  the  head  with  an  empty 
whiskey  jug.  The  fray  ended  when  Alice  ran  home  and,  "scream- 
ing like  a  wildcat,"  threw  herself  into  my  arms.  Old  man  See,  af- 
ter breaking  a  chair  over  the  head  of  Alva  Caldwell,  started  his 
horses  on  a  run  and  drove  bare  headed  into  Monticello,  where  he 
secured  a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  H.  C.  Johns  on  two  charges, 
one  of  assault  and  battery  and  one  for  "illegally  holding  a  girl  in 
involuntary  servitude." 

That  afternoon  the  doctor  submitted  to  an  arrest  and  taking 
Alice  with  him,  went  to  Monticello,  where  a  justice  of  the  peace 
held  him  over  to  the  circuit  court,  but  admitted  him  to  bail,  Wil- 
liam Piatt  and  Ezra  Marquiss  going  on  his  bond.  On  the  second 
charge  the  justice  decided  that  the  girl  was  free  and  that  "H.  C. 
Johns  had  no  legal  right  to  control  her,"  whereupon  Dr.  Johns  re- 
fused to  take  her  home  and  demanded  that  the  justice  appoint  a 
legal  guardian  who  should  take  care  of  her  till  her  mother  in 
Cincinnati  could  be  sent  for. 

It  was  six  months  after  this  episode  that  Judge  Davis  con- 


A  GUEST  IN  THE  HOME  69 

vened  court  in  Monticello  and  appointed  Abraham  Lincoln  as 
prosecuting  attorney  for  the  session.  When  the  case  against  H. 
C.  Johns  was  called,  Frank  Huston,  one  of  the  men  who  had  as- 
sisted in  the  assault,  was  the  only  witness  present,  the  See  family 
having  "pulled  up  stakes  and  gone  west,"  and  the  girl  taken  home 
by  her  mother.  Dr.  Johns  was  fined  one  cent  and  costs. 

Mr.  Lincoln  reminded  Dr.  Johns,  following  adjournment,  that 
he  had  a  "standing  invitation  to  'put  up'  with  Mrs.  Johns  when- 
ever court  was  held  in  Monticello."  Judge  Davis  said  at  once 
that  it  would  be  cruel  to  leave  him  behind,  and  so  I  had  the  plea- 
sure that  night  of  entertaining  a  future  president  of  the  United 
States  and  a  member  of  his  cabinet,  as  well  as  a  senator  and  judge 
of  the  supreme  court. 

I  asked  Mr.  Lincoln  for  an  explanation  of  the  one  cent  fine 
and  he  answered :  "Well,  he  was  guilty  of  assault,  wasn't  he?  And 
he  did  get  battered,  and — well  we  needed  the  costs." 


2  3  mi 


CHAPTER  IV. 
POLITICS  AND  PRINCIPLES. 

This  visit  of  Judge  Davis  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  the  im- 
promptu affair  that  it  seemed.  It  was  purely  and  simply  a  matter 
of  politics.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  candidate  for  the  United  States 
senate  and  the  political  complexion  of  the  next  legislature  was  a 
matter  of  personal  interest  to  him.  They  had  come  to  ask  Dr. 
Johns  to  allow  himself  to  be  announced  as  a  Whig  candidate  for 
representative  to  the  Nineteenth  general  assembly. 

The  political  situation,  national,  state  and  legislative  district 
by  counties  and  precincts,  was  discussed  until  midnight  and  Dr. 
Johns  consented  to  announce  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  legis- 
lature. 

This  was  my  first  lesson  in  practical  politics  and  I  think  that 
both  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Davis  were  somewhat  surprised  at  my 
interest.  From  childhood,  I  had  been  a  politician  and  pre-emi- 
nently a  Whig.  The  speeches  of  Clay  and  Webster,  protective 
tariff  and  national  bank,  were  my  favorite  topics  of  conversation. 
I  had  been  brought  up  to  believe  that  slavery  was  a  divine  insti- 
tution, sanctioned  by  the  Bible  and  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States ;  that  within  its  own  sacred  precincts,  south  of  Mason's 
and  Dixon's  line,  it  must  not  be  interfered  with  by  anyone  who 
claimed  to  be  a  patriot.  I  had  supposed  the  slavery  question  fi- 
nally settled  by  that  greatest  of  Whigs,  Henry  Clay,  and  that  the 
country  had  accepted  as  final  the  compromise  advocated  by  him. 

Even  the  most  pro-slavery  of  modern  Whigs  believed  that 
concessions  to  the  slave  power  had  reached  its  limit  in  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  that  "north  of  thirty  de- 
grees, thirty  minutes  north  latitude,  slavery  and  involuntary  servi- 
tude was  forever  prohibited."  The  platforms  of  both  the  great 
political  parties  were  emphatic  in  their  antagonism  to  the  further 
agitation  of  the  slavery  question,  and  had  declared  the  compro- 
mise measures  of  1852  "final  settlement  of  the  dangerous  ques- 

70 


POLITICS  AND  PRINCIPLES  71 

tion."  It  was  therefore  somewhat  startling  to  me  to  learn  that 
the  extension  of  slavery  was  being  agitated  with  greater  acrimony 
than  ever  before.  The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  and 
the  admission  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  to  the  Union,  under  Mr. 
Douglas'  new  doctrine  of  squatter  sovereignty,  was  stirring  the 
nation  to  its  core. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  out  of  politics  for  eight  years  and  now 
entered  the  arena  again,  only  because  he  believed  there  was  a 
great  principle  at  stake  for  which  he  was  willing  to  g:ve  his  life  if 
necessary.  He  declared  his  firm  conviction  that  the  "question  at 
issue  is  the  nation,  not  slavery,  but  the  establishment  of  a  slave 
holding  empire  in  the  south  which  should  embrace  the  entire 
northwest.  Our  fight  from  this  time  on  is  not  against  slavery 
but  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  not  to  free  the  black  man 
but  to  hold  free  territory  for  free  white  men." 

Mr.  Lincoln's  manner  was  startling  in  its  intensity.  His  atti- 
tude towards  slavery  was  one  of  extreme  repulsion.  He  declared : 

"A  poisonous  exotic  has  taken  deep  root  in  good  soil,  where  it 
is  crowding  out  every  healthy  growth.  We  can't  go  into  our 
neighbor's  field  and  dig  it  out,  but  we  can  and  must  keep  it  from 
spreading  into  clean  soil  which  is  the  inheritance  of  the  people." 
"I  am  not  an  abolitionist,"  he  exclaimed.  "God  in  his  own  good 
time  will  find  a  way  to  rid  the  nation  of  its  curse,  but  emancipa- 
tion is  a  grave  question  which  Divine  wisdom  only  can  solve." 

The  Whig  party  had  always  been  conservative  and  Mr.  Lin- 
coln believed  that  in  the  success  of  that  party  was  the  nation's 
salvation.  He  deprecated  the  violence  of  the  Abolitionists  and 
emphatically  advised  that  the  injection  of  that  subject  into  the 
coming  campaign  should  be  carefully  avoided.  He  felt  sure  that 
his  party  would  stand  by  him  in  resisting  further  aggressions  of 
the  slave  power,  but  as  the  Whigs  of  the  district  were  almost  all 
men  of  southern  antecedents,  who  hated  an  Abolitionist  with  an 
intensity  that  is  almost  inconceivable  at  the  present  day,  he 
thought  it  would  be  good  politics  to  supersede  the  slavery  question 
by  one  of  more  absorbing  interest. 

Locally,  Know- Nothing! sm  was  the  paramount  issue.  The 
district  had  always  been  Democratic  but  the  natives  of  the  west 


72  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

hated  the  Irish  almost  as  bitterly  as  they  hated  the  "nigger,"  and 
the  hope  of  the  Whigs  was  in  the  division  of  the  Democracy.  The 
internal  improvement  scheme  had  flooded  the  state  with  foreign 
laborers,  nine-tenths  of  whom  had  allied  themselves  with  the 
Democratic  party,  and  their  vote  at  any  election  might  control  the 
political  conditions. 

A  provision  of  the  constitution  of  1818  read,  "In  all  elections, 
all  white  male  inhabitants  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  hav- 
ing resided  in  the  state  six  months,  shall  enjoy  the  right  of  an 
elector."  This  idea  was  exceedingly  unpopular  and  resulted  in 
the  formation  of  the  Know  Nothing  party  whose  platform  was 
"America  for  Americans." 

It  was  through  these  conferences  and  correspondence,  inci- 
dent to  this  campaign,  that  I  learned  to  know  and  love  Mr.  Lin- 
coln. I  was  first  impressed  with  his  thorough  knowledge  of  men 
and  then  with  his  wonderful  memory  of  the  peculiarities  of  the 
individual.  He  had  traveled  the  circuit  so  many  years,  when 
court  week  was  every  man's  holiday,  that  he  knew  the  people  col- 
lectively and  individually,  and  was  prepared  to  diagnose  the  poli- 
tics and  prejudices  of  every  man  of  any  influence  in  every  pre- 
cinct, and  to  prescribe  the  special  treatment  for  his  particular  case. 

Yet  in  discussing  the  personnel  of  any  individual,  he  judged 
sympathetically  and  justly.  He  was  always  able  "to  put  himself 
in  the  place"  of  the  man  he  judged  and  to  take  into  consideration 
his  environment,  his  heredity  and  his  temptations. 

Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  many  letters  of  advice  and  instruction  re- 
garding the  conduct  of  that  legislative  campaign  in  which  he 
showed  remarkable  insight  into  the  impulses  as  well  as  the  mo- 
tives that  may  be  used  in  influencing  men.  These  letters  were 
so  intimate  and  so  personal  that  he  advised  their  destruction  "as 
soon  as  read."  If  they  could  have  been  preserved,  they  migh4 
have  been  used  as  a  valuable  lesson  in  honest  political  tactics. 


CHAPTER  V. 

N 

FAILED  OF  ELECTION  IN  1855. 

I  will  give  the  story  of  how  Mr.  Lincoln  failed  to  be  elected 
to  the  senate  of  the  United  States  by  the  Legislature  of  1855,  as  I 
had  prepared  it  to  be  read  at  the  Lincoln  Centennial  at  the  James 
Millikin  University.    I  was  unable  to  tell  the  story  on  that  occa 
sion,  and  it  yet  remains 

A  BIT  OF  UNWRITTEN  HISTORY. 

The  Nineteenth  general  assembly  of  Illinois  to  which  Dr.  H. 
C.  Johns  of  Piatt  was  elected  as  a  Whig,  convened  in  Spring- 
field, January  i,  1855.  The  most  important  transaction  of  that 
assembly  was  the  election  of  a  United  States  Senator.  The  Kan- 
sas-Nebraska Bill  was  the  main  political  issue  of  the  day.  Sena- 
tor Douglas  had  espoused  "Popular  Sovereignty"  and  committed 
the  Democratic  party  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
and  the  "Abolition  of  the  Mason  and  Dixon  Line." 

Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  the  Whig  candidate  for  the  senate,  fear- 
lessly took  the  stump  in  opposition  to  the  Kansas-Nebraska  legis- 
lation and,  in  October,  met  Senator  Douglas  in  joint  discussion  at 
Springfield,  and  followed  him  at  numerous  other  points.  The  po- 
litical situation  at  that  time  was  a  complicated  one.  Know-Noth- 
ingism,  or  the  anti-Irish  sentiment,  was  strong  in  Illinois  as  is  the 
anti-Japanese  feeling  of  today,  in  California,  and  was  an  import- 
ant factor  in  the  election  of  the  members  of  the  legislature.  In 
central  and  southern  Illinois,  to  be  called  an  Abolitionist  was  quite 
as  bad  as  to  be  called  a  thief. 

To  hold  Whigs  with  southern  sympathies  to  party  allegiance, 
to  check  the  violence  of  the  Abolitionists,  to  alienate  Know- 
Nothings  from  the  Democratic  party,  whose  senatorial  candidate, 
General  Shields,  was  an  Irishman,  was  the  difficult  task  set  by 
Mr.  Lincoln  for  his  supporters.  Throughout  the  pre-election 
campaign,  the  task  of  adapting  the  issues  to  the  location  was  di- 

73 


74  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

reeled  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  shrewd  hand.  Every  section  of  the  state 
and,  in  some  instances,  even  precinct  divisions,  had  to  be  diplo- 
matically managed.  Could  the  voluminous  correspondence  re- 
quired by  that  generalship  have  been  preserved,  it  would  have 
proved  a  lesson  in  political  tactics. 

A  convention  of  "men  of  all  parties  opposed  to  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  legislation,"  met  in  Springfield,  October  3,  1854.  Prom- 
inent Democrats  such  as  Palmer,  Cook  and  Judd,  went  to  Spring- 
field with  the  intention  and  expectation  of  assisting  in  the  nomi- 
nation of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  the  Anti-Nebraska  candidate  for  sena- 
tor. Dr.  Johns  had  letters  from  Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr.  Palmer,  Gover- 
nor Koerner  and  others,  all  of  whom  believed  that  with  careful 
management,  the  opposition  to  the  Douglas  program  could  be 
united. 

Unfortunately,  the  rabid  Abolitionists  took  possess:on  of  the 
convention  and,  by  their  violence,  drove  many  conservative  men 
from  the  support  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  fearing  the  effect  of  this 
convocation,  did  not  participate  in  the  proceedings.  Democrats, 
who  were  delegates  to  that  convention,  "bolted,"  held  a  separate 
convention  and  nominated  Lyman  Trumbull  as  "Anti-Nebraska 
Democratic  candidate  for  the  senate." 

When  the  legislature  met  there  was  an  undoubted  Anti-Ne- 
braska majority  on  joint  ballot,  (the  new  party  had  not  yet  been 
born  and  christened  Republican).  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  Whig 
candidate  but  the  Anti-Douglas  Democrats  had  pledged  them- 
selves to  vote  to  the  end  for  Trumbull,  while  the  Abolitionists, 
Know-Nothings  and  Whigs  with  southern  sympathies,  held  the 
balance  of  power. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  friends  were  anxious  for  an  early  date  for  the 
senatorial  election,  fearing  that  delay  and  debate  would  intensify 
the  /ancor  of  both  parties  against  the  Abolitionists,  but  the  Dem- 
ocratic majority  of  the  senate  filibustered  for  delay. 

February  8  was  finally  agreed  upon.  On  the  first  ballot  forty- 
five  votes  were  cast  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  forty-one  for  General 
Shields,  five  for  Mr.  Trumbull,  two  for  Mr.  Koerner  and  one 
each  for  six  other  candidates,  one  member  not  voting.  Six  bal- 
lots followed  quickly,  Shields  holding  steadily  forty-two  votes, 


FAILED  OF  ELECTION  IN  1855  75 

while  Lincoln  fell  to  thirty-six.  On  the  seventh  ballot  the  Dem- 
ocrats changed  to  Governor  Mattison,  through  whose  personal 
popularity  they  hoped  to  win.  The  eighth  and  ninth  ballots  in- 
creased Mattison's  vote  to  forty-seven,  which  was  conceded  to  be 
his  utmost  strength.  The  opposition  vote  on  these  two  ballots 
was  cast  wildly  and  with  no  other  purpose  than  to  obtain  delay. 
It  was  near  noon  and  a  recess  was  taken  till  two  o'clock.  The 
Whigs  were  confident  that  during  this  recess  enough  of  the  scat- 
tering vote  would  be  secured  to  elect  Mr.  Lincoln. 

The  five  Democrats  who  had  pledged  themselves  to  "vote  for 
Trumbull  to  the  bitter  end"  were  thought  invulnerable,  and  with- 
out some  of  their  votes  Mattison  could  not  be  elected.  The  noon 
recess  was  spent  in  hard  work  by  all  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  supporters 
and  at  one  o'clock  they  were  jubilant  with  the  certainty  of  suc- 
cess. 

As  the  wife  of  a  member  of  the  house  and  a  decided  Lincoln 
partisan,  I  had  been  an  interested  spectator  of  the  proceedings.  I 
went  from  the  state  house  directly  to  my  room  which  was  sepa- 
rated from  the  adjoining  parlor  by  closed  folding  doors.  I  was 
resting  quietly  on  my  bed,  which  stood  against  these  doors,  when 
three  men  entered  the  adjoining  room.  My  attention  was  first 
attracted  by  hearing  one  of  these  men  say,  "They  do  not  expect  to 
elect  him  on  the  next  ballot,  but  are  sure  to  on  the  eleventh  or 
twelfth  unless  we  head  them  off." 

Two  of  these  men  were  evidently  members  of  the  legislature. 
Considerations,  political  and  financial,  which  seemed  to  have 
been  previously  discussed,  were  merely  alluded  to,  but  the  pro- 
gram of  procedure  was  minutely  arranged.  One  of  these  men, 
whose  name  came  near  the  head  of  the  roll  call,  was  to  "change 
his  vote  to  Mattison  after  Allen  and  Baker  had  voted  for  Trum- 
bull," and  this  was  to  be  the  signal  for  a  stampede  for  Mattison. 
"Three  more  votes  are  secure  and  others  will  follow,"  they  said. 
The  roll  call  was  then  carefully  gone  over  and  the  probable  vote 
of  each  man  noted  and  checked. 

I  listened  intently,  but  was  not  able  to  fully  grasp  their 
scheme,  though  I  did  understand  their  conclusions.  "Your  votes 
will  assure  the  election  of  Mattison  on  the  next  ballot,  and  I  give 


76  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

you  my  personal  guarantee  for  the  fulfillment  of  our  contract," 
was  the  final  sentence  I  heard  as  they  left  the  room. 

I  hastened  immediately  to  the  state  house,  sent  for  Dr.  Johns, 
told  him  the  story,  and  was  taken  to  a  private  room  where  I  met 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  repeated  to  him  as  nearly  as  I  could  the  exact 
words  of  the  interview  I  had  overheard.  I  had  either  forgotten  or 
had  not  heard  the  names  of  either  of  these  men.  Mr.  Lincoln, 
who  seemed  almost  stunned,  walked  the  floor  without  a  word  of 
comment ;  then  picked  up  a  list  of  the  members  of  the  legislature, 
which  was  on  a  table  in  the  room,  and  after  scanning  it  carefully, 
said  very  sternly,  "I  don't  think  he  will  vote  for  Mattison" 

A  few  gentlemen,  one  of  whom  I  remember  was  John  M.  Pal- 
mer, were  summoned  in  haste,  and  I  was  asked  to  repeat  the 
story.  It  was  evidently  an  unexpected  blow  and  was  received  al- 
most in  silence.  Mr.  Lincoln  rose  from  his  seat,  where  he  had 
seemed  for  a  moment  almost  in  a  state  of  collapse,  and  said : 
"Gentlemen,  Lyman  Trumbull  must  be  elected  to  the  senate  on 
the  next  ballot !" 

The  assembly  had  already  convened  and  there  was  not  a  mo- 
ment to  be  lost.  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  went  down  the  aisles  of  the 
house  and  personally  requested  his  adherents  to  vote  for  Mr. 
Trumbull  on  the  next  ballot,  the  result  of  which  was  fifty-one 
votes  for  Trumbull  and  forty-seven  for  Mattison.  The  unknown 
had  evidently  not  voted  for  Mattison. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  disappointment  was  evident,  the  greater  be- 
cause he  had  been  assured  that  in  addition  to  the  forty-five  votes 
he  had  received  on  the  first  ballot,  four  of  the  scattering  vote  had 
been  secured  for  him,  that  Mattison's  utmost  strength  was  forty- 
seven,  and  that  his  friends  were  confident  he  would  eventually 
receive  the  fifty-one  votes  necessary  to  an  election.  But  with  the 
disclosure  of  this  new  plot,  immediate  action  was  demanded  and 
Mr.  Lincoln  decided,  without  hesitation  or  advice,  to  sacrifice 
personal  ambition  to  the  cause  of  freedom. 

Thus  did  Fate  once  again,  through  bitter  disappointment,  re- 
serve Lincoln  for  a  greater  destiny. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
AT  BIRTH  OF  REPUBLICAN  PARTY. 

The  election  of  Mr.  Trumbull  proved  to  be  the  death  blow  of 
the  Whig  party  in  Illinois.  The  bloody  fight  for  the  admission  of 
Kansas  as  a  slave  state  had  unified  the  anti-slavery  sentiment.  Op- 
position to  squatter  sovereignty  and  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  had  obliterated  old  party  lines,  but  the  new  combina- 
tion of  Whigs,  Democrats  and  Free  Soilers,  while  acting  in  har- 
mony, had  no  distinct  organization  or  party  name.  In  breaking 
away  from  old  party  affiliations,  both  Democrats  and  Whigs  ob- 
jected to  the  name  of  Free  Soilers  because  of  its  taint  of  Aboli- 
tion;sm.  Anti-Nebraska  had  by  common  acceptance  been  the 
cognomen  of  the  new  party.  The  name  "Republican"  had  been 
suggested  but  had  received  no  official  endorsement. 

The  editors  of  Illinois  opposed  to  the  Anti-Nebraska  Bill  had 
called  a  meeting  to  be  held  in  Decatur,  February  22,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  arrangements  for  the  organization  of  the  Anti- 
Nebraska  forces  in  this  state  for  the  coming  contest,  and  all  edi- 
tors favoring  the  movement  were  requested  to  forward  a  copy  of 
their  paper  containing  their  approval  to  the  "office  of  the  Illinois 
State  Chronicle,  at  Decatur."  William  J.  Usrey  was  the  editor  of 
the  Chronicle,  and  was  made  secretary  of  the  convention.  The 
call  received  the  formal  endorsement  of  twenty-five  papers,  a 
number  of  which  had  formerly  been  Democratic. 

The  convention  met  in  the  parlor  of  the  Cassell  House,  (now 
St.  Nicholas),  and  adopted  a  series  of  resolutions  organizing  a 
new  party,  "to  be  named  the  Republican  party."  They  appointed 
a  state  central  committee  with  authority  to  call  a  state  convention. 
A  banquet  was  given  in  the  evening  at  which  "the  infant  was 
christened,"  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  an  invited  guest,  "made 
the  speech  of  the  evening." 

Decatur  therefore  proudly  claims  the  honor  of  being  the  birth- 
place of  the  great  Republican  party.  The  Pittsburgh  convention 


78  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

effected  a  national  organization  on  the  same  day,  but  the  name 
was  a  Decatur  product  and  Abraham  Lincoln  its  sponsor. 

Two  years  later  the  Republican  party  of  Illinois  chose  Mr. 
Lincoln  as  their  champion  against  Mr.  Douglas  in  the  great  con- 
test for  the  Illinois  senatorship.  It  was  a  forlorn  hope  which 
was  thus  intrusted  to  his  charge,  but  though  his  frank  and  almost 
radical  utterances,  in  the  series  of  historical  debates  with  Mr. 
Douglas,  insured  his  own  defeat  for  the  senate,  he  managed  to 
compel  his  opponent  to  so  discredit  himself  with  the  slavery  prop- 
aganda of  the  south  as  to  insure  his  defeat  when  a  candidate  for 
president. 

Mr.  Lincoln  accepted  his  defeat  as  final,  but  after  this  most 
heart  breaking  of  his  disappointments  he  was  able  to  say : 

"I  am  glad  I  made  the  race  and,  though  I  now  sink  out  of 
view,  I  believe  I  have  made  some  marks  which  will  tell  for  the 
cause  of  civil  liberty  long  after  I  am  gone."  It  was  this  spirit 
which  in  the  end  made  his  record,  "a  story  of  failures  that  suc- 
ceeded." 


CHAPTER  VII. 
IN  DECATUR  WIGWAM  IN  1860. 

The  memorable  Lincoln  and  Douglas  debates  had  made  it  im- 
possible for  Mr.  Lincoln  to  "sink  out  of  view."  The  Republicans 
of  Illinois  were  proud  of  his  record  and  were  determined  "to  do 
him  honor."  Early  in  1860,  he  was  mentioned  for  the  presidency 
but  was  hardly  considered  a  candidate.  But  for  vice-president  on 
a  ticket  headed  by  William  H.  Seward,  he  was  prominent  before 
the  people.  It  was  almost  universally  believed  that  the  state  con- 
vention of  Illinois  would  present  his  name  for  that  office  to  the 
National  Convention  in  Chicago. 

The  state  convention  was  booked  for  Decatur,  May't},  1860, 
and  the  question  of  what  to  do  with  it  was  a  puzzling  one.  There 
was  neither  hall  nor  hotel  room  to  accommodate  the  accredited  del- 
egates, much  less  the  large  crowd  of  prominent  men  who  were  ex- 
pected guests.  Committees  were  appointed  to  solve  the  problem. 

To  the  people  of  Decatur,  at  that  day,  nothing  was  impossible 
and  very  soon  arrangements  were  completed  to  adequately  ac- 
commodate the  crowd.  The  entertainment  of  all  delegates  was 
provided  for  by  the  hospitality  of  private  citizens,  leaving  the  ho- 
tels for  the  press  and  other  visitors.  A  building  to  accommodate 
the  convention  had  to  be  provided.  It  is  described  by  the  Decatur 
Herald,  as  follows : 

D.  C.  Shockley  was  a  contractor  and  builder  and  the  Republicans  of 
Decatur  entrusted  to  him  the  erection  of  a  structure  for  the  convention. 
At  that  time  the  Roach  building  and  the  Stoner  building  on  State  street 
had  not  been  built.  These  vacant  lots,  with  State  street,  made  ample 
ground,  which  was  selected  as  the  place.  There  were  few  lumber  yards 
in  Decatur  then  and  lumber  was  hard  to  rent  for  such  purposes.  It  cost 
too  much  to  buy  it.  Enough  lumber  was  secured,  however,  to  build  about 
sixteen  or  eighteen  feet  of  the  west  end  against  the  Washburn  building. 
The  roof  was  flat,  sloping  south  with  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Richard 
J.  Oglesby  in  some  way  secured  a  large  tent  fly  belonging  to  some  circus 
company.  This  was  attached  to  the  wooden  part  and  stretched  flat  across 
to  near  the  east  building,  supported  by  posts  and  stringers,  and  was  roped 
down  at  the  ends  and  sides. 


79 


8o  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

This  structure  was  called  "The  Wigwam."*  It  was  something  over 
lop  feet  east  and  west,  fronting  on  Park  street,  and  about  seventy  feet 
wide.  The  stand  was  on  the  south  side  and  the  roof  was  so  low  that 
the  heads  of  men  as  tall  as  Lincoln,  when  on  the  platform,  almost  touched 
the  canvass  roof.  The  seats  were  constructed  of  plank,  staked  on  edge 
with  boards  laid  over  them.  While  Mr.  Shockley  had  charge  of  the  build- 
ing, M.  E.  Schroeder  and  many  others  still  living  here  helped  to  do  the 
work,  charging  nothing  for  their  services. 

This  was  the  greatest  convention  ever  held  in  any  state.  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  there.  So  was  Palmer,  Oglesby,  Medill,  Judd,  Lovejoy,  Went- 
worth,  ready  for  the  fray. 

The  principal  business  of  the  convention  was  the  nomination 
of  a  candidate  for  governor,  but  presidential  prospects  and  pos- 
sibilities were  the  chief  subjects  of  conversation.  A  surprise, 
however,  was  being  prepared  by  a  secret  conclave  under  the  guid- 
ance of  Richard  J.  Oglesby. 

To  Oglesby,  of  Decatur,  must  be  conceded  the  honor  of  creat- 
ing the  candidacy  of  Abraham  Lincoln  for  president  of  the  United 
States.  He  knew  and  honored  and  loved  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  be- 
lieved from  the  bottom  of  his  great  heart  that  none  of  the  other 
candidates  were  so  eminently  fitted  for  that  high  position  as  Abra- 
ham Lincoln.  He  had  conceived  the  idea  of  presenting  Lincoln 
as  the  representative  candidate  of  free  labor,  the  exponent  of  the 
possibilities  for  a  poor  man  in  a  free  state.  Recalling  the  success- 
ful Log  Cabin  and  Hard  Cider  campaign  of  1840,  he  determined 
to  find  some  one  thing  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  unsuccessful  career  as  a 
worker  that  could  be  made  the  emblem  of  that  idea,  and  a  catch 
word  which  would  make  enthusiastic  the  working  people.  One 
day  he  met  John  Hanks,  whom  he  knew  had  worked  with  Lincoln 
on  a  farm  years  and  years  before,  and  asked  him  "what  kind  of 
work  'Abe'  used  to  be  good  at." 

"Well,  not  much  of  any  kind  but  dreaming,"  was  Hank's  re- 
ply, "but  he  did  help  me  split  a  lot  of  rails  when  we  made  the 
clearing  twelve  miles  west  of  here." 

The  rest  of  the  story  I  will  give  as  it  was  related  to  J.  McCan 
Davis,  clerk  of  the  supreme  court  of  Illinois,  by  Mr.  Oglesby  him- 
self: 

"John."  said  I,  "did  you  snlit  rails  down  there  with  Old  Abe?" 
"Yes ;   every  day,"  he  replied. 

*In  a  room  on  the  second  floor  of  the  brick  building,  which  was  used 
as  the  east  wall  of  this  Wigwam,  the  first  post  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  was  organized  on  April  5,  1865. 


IN  DECATUR  WIGWAM  IN  1860  81 

"Do  you  suppose  you  could  find  any  of  them  now?" 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "The  last  time  I  was  down  there,  ten  years  ago,  there 
were  plenty  of  them  left." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  tomorrow?" 

"Nothing." 

"Then,"  said  I,  "come  around  and  get  in  my  buggy  and  we  will  drive 
down  there." 

So  the  next  day  we  drove  out  to  the  old  clearing.  We  turned  in  by 
the  timber  and  John  said : 

"Dick,  if  I  don't  find  any  black-walnut  rails,  nor  any  honey-locust  rails, 
I  won't  claim  it's  the  fence  Abe  and  I  built." 

Presently  John  said  :    "There's  the  fence !" 

"But  look  at  those  great  trees,"  said  I. 

"Certainly,"  he  answered.    "They  have  all  grown  up  since." 

John  got  out,  I  stayed  in  the  buggy.  John  kneeled  down  and  com- 
menced chipping  the  rail's  of  the  old  fence  with  a  penKnife.  Soon  he  came 
back  with  black-walnut  shavings  and  honey-locust  shavings. 

"There  they  are ;"  said  he,  triumphantly  holding  out  the  shavings. 
"They  are  the  identical  rails  we  made." 

Then  1  got  out  and  made  an  examination  of  the  fence.  There  were 
many  black-walnut  and  honey-locust  rails. 

"John,"  said  1,  "where  did  you  cut  these  rails  ? 

"I  can  take  you  to  the  stumps,"  he  answered. 

"We  will  go  down  there,"  said  I. 

We  drove  about  a  hundred  yards. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "look !  There's  a  black-walnut  stump  ;  there's  another 
another — another.    Here's  where  we  cut  the  trees  down  and  split  the  rails. 
Then  we  got  a  horse  and  wagon,  hauled  them  in,  and  built  the  fence  and  the 
cabin." 

We  took  two  of  the  rails  and  tied  them  under  the  hind  axle-tree  of  my 
new  buggy,  and  started  for  town.  People  would  occasionally  pass  and 
think  something  had  broken.  We  let  them  think  so,  for  we  didn't  wish  to 
tell  anybody  just  what  we  were  doing.  We  kept  right  on  until  we  got  to 
my  barn.  There  we  hid  the  rails  until  the  day  of  the  convention. 

Before  the  convention  met,  I  talked  with  several  Republicans  about  my 
plan,  and  we  fixed  it  up  that  old  John  Hanks  should  take  the  rails  into  the 
convention.  We  made  a  banner,  attached  to  a  board  across  the  top  of  the 
rails,  with  the  inscription : 

"Abraham  Lincoln,  The  Railsplitter  Candidate,  for  President  in  1860. 
Two  rails  from  a  lot  of  3,000  made  in  1830  by  John  Hanks  and  Abe 
Lincoln." 

After  the  convention  got  under  way,  I  arose  and  announced  that  an  old 
Democrat  desired  to  make  a  contribution  to  the  convention.  The  proceed- 
ings stopped,  and  all  was  expectancy  and  excitement.  Then  in  walked  old 
John  with  the  banner  on  the  rails. 

From  that  time  forward  the  rails  were  ever  present  in  the  campaign. 

The  Seward  boom  was  dead.  "Dick"  Oglesby  and  old  John 
Hanks  and  two  fence  rails  had  killed  it. 

John  M.  Palmer  was  soon  on  his  feet  with  a  resolution  declar- 
ing that  "Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  first  choice  of  the  Republican 
party  of  Illinois  for  the  presidency,"  and  instructing  "the  dele- 
gates to  the  Chicago  convention  to  use  all  honorable  means  to  se- 


82  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

cure  the  nomination  and  to  cast  the  vote  of  the  state  as  a  unit  for 
him." 

Thomas  J.  Turner,  of  Freeport,  who  had  served  in  Congress 
with  Lincoln  in  1847-8,  was  there  as  a  champion  of  Seward,  and 
he  bitterly  attacked  the  resolution.  Palmer  replied  in  a  speech 
of  tremendous  force,  and  the  resolution  was  adopted  amid  great 
applause. 

The  enthusiasm  with  which  this  rail  framed  banner  was  re- 
ceived by  the  convention  is  unrivaled  in  history,  unless  we  ex- 
cept the  reception  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  nomination  at  Chicago  a  few 
weeks  later.  The  roof  was  literally  cheered  off  the  building, 
hats  and  canes  and  books  and  papers  were  tossed  aloft,  as  men 
jumped  and  screamed  and  howled,  until  part  of  the  awning  over 
the  platform  fell  on  their  heads.  When  the  enthusiasm  finally 
subsided,  the  Wigwam  was  almost  a  wreck. 

Six  delegates  from  Stevenson  county,  who  were  our  guests, 
were  at  breakfast  firmly  for  Seward  and  Lincoln,  but  at  dinner 
they  were  for  "Lincoln — Lincoln  and  anybody,"  but  Lincoln  first. 

It  was  a  complete  surprise  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  Mr.  Lowber  Bur- 
rows, who  was  present,  thus  described  the  scene : 

Yes,  I  was  present  when  Johnny  Hanks  carried  that  banner  into  the 
convention,  and  the  whole  crowd  went  wild.  The  members  were  simply 
frantic  with  surprise  and  delight.  Lincoln  was  wildly  called  for.  You 
know,  he  could  not  be  found  when  they  wanted  him.  A  committee  hunted 
around  and  finally  found  him  asleep  in  the  back  room  of  his  friend,  Jim 
Peake's  jewelry  store.  Lincoln  had  wandered  into  the  store,  seeking  for  a 
few  minutes  rest  and  quiet,  and  seeing  the  couch,  threw  himself  on  it  and 
soon  fell  asleep. 

He  was  roused  and  rushed  to  the  platform  of  the  convention  through  a 
back  entrance.  He  knew  nothing  of  the  plot  and,  when  confronted  with 
the  banner,  stood  for  a  few  minutes  simply  dazed  with  astonishment.  When 
told  that  these  were  rails  that  he  had  split,  he  said :  "Gentlemen,  John  and 
I  did  split  some  rails  down  there,  and  if  these  are  not  the  identical  rails, 
we  certainly  made  some  quite  as  good." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
EXCITING  JOURNEY  IN  SOUTH. 

Mr.  Oglesby's  idea  was  adopted  by  the  north  with  enthusiasm, 
but  the  slave  holding  aristocracy  of  the  south  scornfully  repudi- 
ated the  Railsplitter.  "The  man  who  would  do  the  work  that  a 
'nigger'  could  do  as  well,"  was  not  fit  for  a  white  man's  society, 
much  less  for  his  vote.  Mr.  Lincoln's  antecedents  and  personality 
were  made  to  supersede  political  questions  and  the  issue  was 
seemingly,  "Poor  White  trash  or  a  gentleman."  Through  ridicule 
and  caricature,  the  very  name  of  Lincoln  was  made  an  offense  to 
decency.  To  mention  him  was  like  casting  a  fire  brand  into  a 
powder  magazine. 

In  October,  1860,  Dr.  Johns  was  on  his  way  by  rail  to  New 
Orleans  on  a  business  trip.  Somewhere  in  Alabama  a  crowd  of 
men,  who  .had  been  attending  a  political  meeting,  boarded  the 
train,  and  soon  proposed  a  straw  vote  for  president.  Ballots  were 
distributed  and  Dr.  Johns  voted  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  folded  his 
ballot  and  threw  it  into  the  hat  without  making  any  comment. 
When  the  votes  were  counted  it  was  announced  that  Bell  had  a 
majority,  Breckenridge  followed  a  close  second,  with  four  votes 
for  Douglas  and  one  for  Lincoln.  Some  ruffian,  standing  in  the 

aisle,  yelled  out,  "Where's  the  d d  Yankee  that  voted  for  that 

beast?"  "Let's  put  him  of f !"  "Who  is  he?"  "Where  is  he?" 
was  the  immediate  cry  from  different  quarters  of  the  car. 

A  self  constituted  committee  started  a  search  with  oaths  and 
threats  of  death  to  the  Abolitionist.  Dr.  Johns  sat  next  the  win- 
dow, and  beside  him  a  big  Kentuckian  who  had  voted  for  Bell. 
"Don't  stir  and  don't  open  your  mouth,"  whispered  his  seat  mate, 
laying  his  hand  heavily  on  the  Doctor's  knee.  Then  turning  to  the 
crowd,  he  yelled,  "Boys,  he  is  in  the  other  car ;  try  there." 

The  excitement  continued  for  ten  minutes,  or  until  the  train 
reached  the  station  where  the  majority  of  the  passengers  got  off. 

83 


84  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

After  quiet  was  restored,  the  Kentuckian  whispered,  "You  made 
a  narrow  escape." 

One  month  later  the  Republican  party  had  triumphed  at  the 
polls,  Abraham  Lincoln  had  been  elected  president  of  the  United 
States,  and  secession  was  rampant.  Every  possible  means  of 
"firing  the  Southern  Heart"  was  resorted  to.  Persistent  and  de- 
termined vilification  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  incited  and  encouraged 
by  the  secession  leaders,  and  his  personality  was  made  the  domi- 
nant issue. 

This  particular  phase  of  the  situation  is  indelibly  impressed 
on  my  memory  by  the  exciting  incidents  of  a  trip  I  made  to  New 
Orleans  in  January,  1861. 

The  winter  had  been  a  gloomy  one.  The  excitement  preceding 
the  memorable  political  campaign  of  1860  and  the  reaction  after 
the  first  jollification  over  Republican  success  had  been  followed 
by  a  period  of  extreme  depression.  State  after  state  was  seceding 
from  the  Union  and  rumors  were  rife  that  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  River  was  no  longer  feasible.  The  Cairo  firm  of 
Halliday  Brothers,  of  which  William  Martin  and  William  Ennis, 
of  Decatur,  were  members,  had  accumulated  a  big  boat  load  of 
corn,  intended  for  the  New  Orleans  market  and  they  were  deter- 
mined to  risk  getting  it  to  its  destination.  Captain  Halliday  invited 
me  to  join  his  wife  and  a  party  of  Louisville  Ladies  who,  wTith  my 
father,  were  to  be  his  guests  on  the  trip,  and  I  joyfully  accepted. 
Mr.  Martin  and  Mr.  Ennis  were  not  so  sanguine  of  the  success  of 
the  venture  and  sold  out  their  interests  in  the  cargo  the  morning 
we  left  Cairo,  and  Mr.  Martin  did  not  join  the  party. 

The  ladies  of  our  party  and  the  officers  of  the  boat  had  the  la- 
dies' salon  to  themselves,  but  there  was  a  full  complement  of  pas- 
sengers both  in  the  cabin  and  below  deck,  mostly  men  of  the 
south  who  were  returning  to  their  homes  after  making  a  final 
settlement  of  their  business  affairs  in  the  north. 

We  had  not  been  long  aboard  before  it  became  a  matter  of  no- 
toriety that  I  knew  and  was  a  friend  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was 
then  en  route  to  Washington  for  his  inauguration.  My  personal 
acquaintance  with  him  aroused  the  curiosity  and  soon  developed 
the  hostile  attitude  towards  him  of  my  fellow  passengers.  I  was 


EXCITING  JOURNEY  IN  SOUTH  85 

the  only  "l^lack"  Republican  on  board  and  most  of  my  time  was 
taken  up  in  discussing,  defending  and  describing  the  man  who  for 
the  next  four  years  was  to  be  the  head  of  the  nation.  His  per- 
sonal appearance,  outre  manners  and  reputed  ignorance  were  in- 
variably quoted  as  the  chief  ground  of  complaint. 

The  states  were  seceding  because  they  would  not  be  ruled  by 
poor  white  trash,  a  rail  splitter,  a  country  bumpkin,  and  last  and 
vilest  epithet  of  all,  an  Abolitionist.  I  asked  one  gentleman  if  he 
had  ever  read  any  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  speeches.  "Nc  I  wouldn't 
touch  them  with  the  tongs !"  he  declared.  When  I  declared  him 
a  gentleman,  fit  for  any  society  in  the  land,  a  lady  said  in  an  aside, 
"Yes,  in  any  barroom !" 

When  I  quoted  Lincoln's  speeches  to  prove  that  he  was  not  an 
Abolitionist,  they  proclaimed  him  a  hypocrite.  When  I  said  that  I 
never  thought  of  him  as  an  unusually  homely  man,  and  that  he 
dressed  as  well  as  the  average  man  on  that  boat,  I  was  answered 
by,  "Do  you  mean  the  average  deck  hand  ?"  When  I  asserted  that 
he  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  men  and  best  talkers  I  had 
ever  met,  one  man  bowed  formally  and  said,  "I  would  not  have 
supposed  that  you  were  interested  in  ribald  stories !"  Oh !  how 
my  blood  boiled ! 

When  we  arrived  at  Memphis,  our  captain  was  officially  in- 
formed that  he  would  not  be  allowed  to  pass  Vicksburg  without 
reporting  to  the  custom  officers  of  the  "Sovereign  State  of  Mis- 
sissippi," and  that  his  cargo  was  liable  to  confiscation.  Memphis 
dealers  offered  to  buy  him  out  and  allow  him  to  return  to  Cairo 
unmolested.  Captain  Halliday,  however,  decided  that  "the  river 
was  wide,  the  water  high,  Louisiana  was  yet  in  the  union,"  and 
he  would  "risk  passing  Vicksburg  on  the  Louisiana  side,"  which 
he  did ;  but  not  without  a  gun  being  fired  across  the  bow  of  the 
boat  at  Vicksburg  as  a  signal  to  "round  to." 

We  found  New  Orleans  panic  stricken.  The  convention  that 
seceded  Louisiana  was  holding  exciting  sessions  behind  closed 
doors.  There  were  rumors  that  a  majority  for  secession  could 
not  be  secured.  Threats  of  violence  against  the  Unionists  were 
heard  every  where. 

Merchants  were  selling  "all  goods  not  staple"  for  any  price 


86  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

that  a  buyer  would  offer  in  gold.  Silks,  laces  and  fancy  goods 
were  almost  given  away.  The  impression  was  universal  that  the 
Mississippi  river  would  be  the  first  bone  of  contention  in  the 
coming  war  and  that  New  Orleans  was  doomed.  Our  cargo  of 
corn  was,  without  delay,  sold  for  gold  at  a  profit  that  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  future  success  and  great  wealth  of  the  Halli- 
day  Brothers.  As  fast  as  the  corn  could  be  transferred  to  barges 
and  flat  boats,  it  was  "shipped  to  the  interior,"  where  it  would  be 
safe,  and  I  have  no  doubt  was  purchased  by  the  Confederate  gov- 
ernment. 

My  Louisville  friends  made  very  profitable  investments  in 
silks,  laces  and  jewelry,  the  captain  furnishing  us  gold  for  our 
shopping.  We  soon  found  that  if  we  bought  one  article,  we  must 
buy  others  to  equal  the  value  of  the  coin  we  offered  in  payment, 
for  they  would  not  give  us  change  in  coin.  While  my  friends 
shopped,  I  always  succeeded  in  making  it  known  that  I  was  from 
the  vicinity  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  and  knew  Mr.  Lincoln.  The 
result  was  always  interesting,  sometimes  startling,  frequently 
laughable,  and  once  or  twice  a  spice  of  danger  was  added  for 
variety.  The  salesmen  in  the  stores  were  invariably  young  fire- 
eaters,  who  boasted  that  they  were  drilling  every  night,  "though 
they  had  little  hope  of  a  fight,  for  the  Yankees  would  never  give 
them  a  chance."  One  young  fellow  had  "promised  his  sweet- 
heart a  piece  of  Lincoln's  hide  for  a  purse,"  saying,  "Monkey 
skin  makes  excellent  leather,  you  know."  Another,  upon  receiv- 
ing from  me  five  dollars  in  gold  for  sixteen  yards  of  silk,  with 
ten  yards  of  Spanish  lace  for  trimming,  promised  us  his  "personal 
protection  when  we'uns  are  marching  through  Illinois,"  if  we 
would  leave  him  our  names  and  addresses. 

One  of  the  Louisville  ladies,  becoming  a  little  frightened  at 
the  fierce  bravado  of  a  young  drug  clerk,  said,  "Oh !  I  am  not 
from  Illinois ;  Kentucky  is  my  home !" 

"D n  Kentucky!  that's  worse  than  Illinois!  snapped  the 

clerk.  "I  wouldn't  give  that  (snapping  his  fingers)  for  a  milk 
sop !  They  are  worse  than  Abolitionists  !" 

I  was  asked  in  good  faith  by  apparently  intelligent  men  if 
"Lincoln  could  read."  "Does  he  always  go  barefooted  ?"  "Has  he 


EXCITING  JOURNEY  IN  SOUTH  87 

a  negro  wife?"  "Does  he  look  like  a  babboon?"  I  was  told  by  a 
middle-aged  merchant  that  "Louisiana  would  not  have  seceded  if 
the  north  had  elected  a  gentleman  for  president,  but  we  can't 
stand  Lincoln,  a  mere  laborer  who  don't  know  his  letters ;  that  is 
a  d d  disgrace." 

As  a  rule  the  business  men  were  grave  and  apprehensive,  but 
acknowledged  that  they  were  powerless.  Fear  of  some  dread  ca- 
lamity seemed  to  have  paralyzed  their  wills.  One  of  the  proprie- 
tors of  a  large  dry  goods  store  invited  me  into  frs  private  office, 
"where  he  dared  speak  his  mind,"  and  told  me  of  a  visit  he  had 
made  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  home  just  after  the  election. 

"I  went,"  said  he,  "determined  to  know  the  truth  about  the 
man  and  his  purposes,  and,  would  to  God  I  could  make  these  peo- 
ple see  him  as  I  saw  him.  I  am  convinced  that  under  no  circum- 
stances will  Lincoln  make  any  aggressive  movement  towards  the 
south.  He  is  fair  and  honest  and  while  he  intends  to  preserve  the 
Union,  he  will  never  countenance  interference  with  the  constitu- 
tional rights  of  any  state.  Mr.  Lincoln's  parting  words  to  me 
were :  "You  may  assure  your  people  that  unless  the  south  her- 
self strikes  a  blow  at  the  Union,  all  her  institutions  will  be  as 
safe  under  my  administration,  as  under  Mr.  Buchanan's." 

"I  dared  after  I  came  home  to  say  aloud  that  Mr.  Lincoln  is 
a  gentleman  and  a  patriot  and,  in  consequence,  my  life  is  in  dan- 
ger every  hour,  and  I  have  been  obliged  to  hire  a  guard  to  watch 
my  store  day  and  night  to  keep  my  own  clerks  from  setting  it 
afire." 

We  were  advertised  to  leave  New  Orleans  for  "Baton  Rouge, 
Memphis  and  Cairo,"  at  noon  on  the  2/th  day  of  January.  Pas- 
sengers and  freight  were  booked  for  all  these  stations.  About  10 
o'clock  the  Captain  reported  that  the  boat  was  to  be  held  till  four 
to  take  on  about  fifty  members  of  the  convention  and  legislature, 
who  wanted  to  go  to  Baton  Rouge  that  night.  There  had  been 
vague  rumors  all  day  that  a  mob  was  organized,  sworn  "never  to 
let  the  gold  that  the  corn  was  sold  for  leave  the  levee,"  and  a 
guard  of  uniformed  police  had  been  granted  Captain  Halliday  by 
the  mayor  of  New  Orleans.  Canvas  bags,  supposedly  holding 
the  gold,  had  early  in  the  day  been  conveyed  under  guard  from 


88  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  Bank  of  New  Orleans  to  the  safe  of  the  steamboat  where  the 
servants,  officers  and  some  of  the  deck  hands  had  seen  them  de- 
posited. 

None  of  the  lady  passengers  had  been  allowed  to  leave  the 
boat  that  day.  As  nearly  out  of  sight  as  possible,  we  sat  on  the 
guards,  listening  to  the  music  of  the  bands  and  the  roar  of  can- 
non that  announced  the  lowering  of  the  flag  of  the  Union  and 
the  raising  of  the  Confederate  flag  over  the  mint  and  other  public 
buildings,  and  watching  the  surging  crowd  of  people  on  the  levee. 

A  little  after  four  o'clock,  the  governor  of  the  state,  two  am- 
bassadors from  the  Confederate  congress,  a  number  of  members 
of  the  convention  and  of  the  legislature  marched  to  the  landing, 
accompanied  by  two  bands  of  music  and  escorted  by  the  Louis- 
iana Zouaves.  As  they  boarded  the  boat  they  were  saluted  with 
a  salvo  of  guns.  Steam  was  up  and  the  boat  pulled  out  imme- 
diately, and  as  she  swung  into  the  stream  a  sigh  of  relief  and 
thankfulness  went  up  from  every  heart. 

Supper  was  served  the  lady  passengers  in  the  ladies'  cabin, 
behind  closely  drawn  curtains.  In  the  cabin  beyond,  a  drunken 
orgy  was  kept  up  until  late  in  the  evening.  No  one  pretended  to 
go  to  bed  as  the  Baton  Rogue  contingent  expected  to  land  before 
morning,  but  gradually  the  confusion  subsided.  The  riotous  ele- 
ment was  evidently  "making  a  night  of  it"  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  boat  near  the  bar.  Gradually  there  had  gathered  at  the  table 
near  our  drawn  curtains  a  number  of  gentlemen,  who  were  evi- 
dently not  of  the  common  herd,  and  who  desired  to  escape  the 
revel  lower  down.  All  the  ladies  excepting  myself  had  gone  to 
their  state  rooms,  "frightened  and  tired  to  death,"  and  the  lights 
in  our  cabin  were  put  out.  The  chambermaid  whispered  to  me : 

"Missy,  if  you  want  to  see  the  'quality,'  I'll  fix  your  chair 
right  here  in  this  corner  where  you  can  peek  through  the  crack." 

I  took  the  suggestion  and  with  my  shoulder  almost  touching 
the  back  of  a  man  they  called  "General,"  I  sat  almost  breathless 
and  listened  for  two  hours.  The  events  of  that  night  are  burned 
into  my  brain  and  I  can  almost  hear  again  the  words  that  made 
my  blood  boil  with  indignation,  though  I  was  shivering  with  fear. 
First  I  heard  a  pleasant  voice  say,  "Well,  now  it's  done!  We're 


EXCITING  JOURNEY  IN  SOUTH  89 

out  of  the  United  States  and  we're  in  the  Confederacy.  What 
next?" 

A  voice  at  the  lower  end  of  the  table  thundered,  "War !" 

"Bosh  !"  said  another  man.  "There's  no  danger  of  war !  Lin- 
coln is  crawling  already.  Talks  about  guaranteeing  us  all  our 
rights  under  the  constitution;  non-interference,  and  such  rot!" 

"They're  all  a  set  of  cringing  cowards  !  If  there  was  money  in 
it,  mebbe  they'd  fight." 

"They  wouldn't  fight  if  they  could  and  they  couldn't  if  they 
would,  for  Jeff  Davis  and  Floyd  have  seen  to  it  that  we  have  all 
the  guns  and  all  the  money." 

"Granting  that  we  have,  what  else  have  we?"  hissed  the  first 
speaker.  "We  have  the  niggers — we  have  them  just  where  the 
cowards  want  them !  Every  nigger  with  a  coal  of  fire  between 
two  chips  is  worth  a  hundred  guns!" 

There  was  dead  silence  for  a  minute  and  then  some  one  said : 
"I  ain't  afraid  to  trust  my  family  to  my  niggers.  They'd  fight  to 
the  death  for  'Ole  Missy.'  " 

"Oh,  yes !  you  Virginians  have  played  it  smart !  You've  ship- 
ped all  your  firebrands  down  to  the  cotton  fields." 

"We're  none  of  us  afraid  of  our  house  servants,  but  my  God ! 
just  look  at  the  cattle  on  the  plantations !  Let  me  tell  you,  this 

don't  mean  war, — it  means ,"  and  he  whispered  with  a  fearful 

hiss,  "In-sur-rection !" 

For  two  long  hours  I  sat  almost  breathless  and  listened.  Every 
sentence  impressed  itself  on  my  brain  forever,  making  that  night 
the  most  memorable  of  my  life. 

The  probabilities  and  possibilities  of  war  were  discussed  from 
every  point  of  view.  A  few  men  thought  war  inevitable,  but  "it 
would  not  last  long."  There  would  be  "no  bloodshed  on  southern 
soil."  "No  Yankee  army  would  ever  cross  the  border."  "We 
are  ready,  we  have  been  getting  ready  for  years."  "A  hundred 
thousand  men  are  ready  to  take  Washington  and  overrun  the 
northern  states  in  less  than  a  month."  "They  will  get  all  the 
fighting  they  want  at  home,"  and  similar  bravado. 

Suddenly  and  very  impressively,  a  man  who  had  scarcely 
spoken  before,  leaned  forward  on  the  table  and  said:  "Gentle- 


90  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

men,  there  will  be  no  war.  Lincoln  will  not  get  as  far  as  Wash- 
ington ;  he  will  never  be  inaugurated.  Washington  City  will  be 
ours  in  less  than  a  month.  The  mine  is  laid  and  the  coup  d'etat 
is  planned.  When  Washington  is  ours,  Virginia  and  Maryland, 
Kentucky  and  Missouri  will  fall  into  line.  Illinois  is  ready  too, 
and  the  Mississippi  valley  with  the  whole  northwest  will  be  in 
the  Confederacy." 

This  statement,  made  slowly  and  deliberately  in  a  tone  of  ear- 
nestness, created  a  profound  sensation.  Men  sprang  to  their  feet 
and  paraded  the  floor.  A  babel  of  voices  made  dire  confusion, 
and  I  was  so  frightened  that  I  fled  to  my  state  room  and  hid  my 
face  in  the  pillow.  When  I  again  ventured  to  seek  my  corner 
some  of  the  men  had  left  the  cabin,  and  there  had  developed  some 
Union  sentiment. 

"You  know  d n  well  that  Louisiana  would  vote  today  to 

stay  in  the  Union !  You  only  pulled  her  out  by  one  vote,  and 
that  was  bought.  I  go  with  my  state,  but  by  God,  I  am  tired  of 
acting  as  a  cats-paw  to  pull  South  Carolina's  chestnuts  out  of  the 
fire !  Give  Lincoln  a  chance !  I  really  believe  he  means  to  be 
fair." 

"Wait  till  he  tries  to  coerce  you."  "Which  ever  side  strikes 
the  first  blow  is  the  side  that  goes  under,"  were  a  few  of  the  sen- 
tences I  caught.  But  the  conversation  was  no  longer  general,  the 
conclave  had  broken  into  smaller  groups,  and  tired  and  sick,  I 
went  to  bed  where  I  stayed  for  two  days.  The  remainder  of  the 
trip  was  comparatively  uneventful.  We  passed  Vicksburg  un- 
molested, and  when  we  reached  Cairo  every  lady  passenger 
breathed  a  sigh  of  relief  as  she  divested  herself  of  a  heavy  belt  she 
had  worn  since  the  morning  before  we  left  New  Orleans — the 
gold  was  safe. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
DAYS  OF  GREATNESS. 

The  period  between  the  election  and  the  inauguration  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  the  beginning  of  his  martyrdom.  It  was  then  he  took 
up  his  cross.  The  southern  states  were  seceding  one  by  one  and 
providing  millions  of  dollars  for  war.  Buchanan  and  his  cabinet 
were  gradually  but  surely  bankrupting  the  treasury,  removing  all 
arms  and  munitions  of  war  to  the  southern  states  and  surrender- 
ing to  them  the  forts  and  arsenals  within  their  bounds,  sending  all 
available  military  forces  to  widely  distant  stations  in  the  far  west, 
and  scattering  the  navy  all  over  the  world.  The  secession  ele- 
ment was  attempting  to  coerce  the  border  states  into  joining  the 
Confederacy,  and  the  secret  agents  of  the  Knights  of  the  Golden 
Circle  were  organizing  in  the  free  states  to  subvert  the  govern- 
ment. 

"The  north  was  panic  stricken.  Capital  was  crying  for  peace, 
peace  at  any  price.  Every  form  of  compromise,  from  sentimental 
sop  to  abject  surrender,  had  its  nervous  advocates,  and  Lincoln, 
watching  the  pitiful  exhibition,  might  well  have  felt  himself  be- 
trayed in  the  house  of  his  friends."  No  opportunity  was  ever 
lost  to  exploit  his  supposed  unfitness  for  high  position.  In  the 
senate  of  the  United  States,  in  the  last  hours  of  the  Thirty-eighth 
congress,  Mr.  Wigfall,  of  Texas,  saw  fit  to  sneer  at  "the  ex-rail 
splitter,  the  ex-grocery  keeper,  the  flat  boat  man,  the  ex-Aboli- 
tionist lecturer,  who,  tomorrow  morning  expects  to  assume  the 
reins  of  government." 

There  never  was  a  human  being  more  maligned,  more  ridi- 
culed, more  unsparingly  accused  and  condemned.  Ingenuity  ex- 
hausted itself  in  efforts  to  insult  him.  Partisan  malice  and  per- 
sonal spite  shamelessly  contended  to  sting  him  with  abuse.  Vili- 
fication strove  to  pillory  him  at  every  turn. 

After  his  inauguration,  the  same  spirit  prevailed.  It  was  not 
the  president  of  the  United  States  that  was  held  responsible  for 


92  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

public  acts,  but  Abraham  Lincoln.  When  General  Scott  ordered 
the  heights  of  Arlington  fortified,  and  placed  10,000  soldiers  in 
position  to  defend  Washington,  General  Beauregard,  in  an  official 
proclamation  to  the  people  of  Virginia,  said : 

A  reckless  and  unprincipled  tyrant  has  invaded  your  soil,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  regardless  of  all  legal,  moral  or  constitutional  restraints,  has 
thrown  his  Abolition  hosts  among  your  citizens,  confiscating  and  destroying 
your  property,  and  committing  under  his  sanction  acts  of  violence  too  re- 
volting to  be  mentioned. 

Upon  the  same  day,  the  Richmond  Examiner  declared  that 
"The  just  indignation  of  an  outraged  people  will  teach  'the  Illi- 
nois Ape'  a  fearful  lesson."  In  a  speech  before  the  Confederate 
Congress,  reference  was  made  to  "Scott,  the  Arch  Traitor,  and 
Lincoln,  the  Beast."  When  General  Lyon  issued  an  order  that 
any  man  convicted  of  tearing  up  railroad  tracks  or  destroying 
bridges  in  Missouri  should  be  shot,  General  Jeff  Thompson  issued 
a  retaliatory  proclamation  threatening  "to  hang,  draw  and  quarter 
a  'Lincoln  Minion'  for  every  man  shot  under  that  order."  An 
extract  from  the  New  Orleans  Picayune  of  May,  1861,  reads: 

All  Massachusetts  troops  now  in  Washington  are  negroes,  excepting 
one  or  two  drummer  boys.  General  Butler,  in  command,  is  a  native  of  Li- 
beria. Some  of  our  readers  will  recollect  Old  Ben,  the  barber  who  once 
kept  a  shop  on  Poydras  street,  and  who,  with  some  money,  emigrated  to  Li- 
beria. General  Butler  is  his  son. 

A  few  months  after,  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  had  aroused 
the  patriotism  of  the  nation,  men  were  patriots,  not  partisans,  but 
it  was  not  long  before  party  politics  began  to  arouse  a  spirit  of  op- 
position to  the  "powers  that  be,"  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  again  put 
upon  the  pillory.  Not  only  his  opponents  but  many  of  his  sup- 
porters and  friends  were  loud  in  their  denunciations  of  his  policy. 
The  Abolition  element  proclaimed  him  a  "truckling  coward,"  and 
referred  to  the  soldiers  of  the  army  as  "Lincoln's  slave  hunting 
blood  hounds,"  while  the  Union  men  of  the  border  states  arro- 
gantly demanded  that  he  enforce  the  law  of  the  land,  particularly 
referring  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  When  the  slaves  of  rebels 
were  pronounced  contraband  of  war,  "Lincoln's  doctrine  of  mili- 
tary necessity  was  denounced  as  a  new  born  heresy,  the  sum  of  all 
political  and  military  villainies,  no  less  absurd  than  villainous,"  by 
both  Abolitionists  and  slave  holders. 


DAYS  OF  GREATNESS  93 

Not  until  1864,  however,  did  northern  papers  dare  openly  to 
endorse  all  the  vilifications  that  had  been  heaped  upon  the  good 
name  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  south.  Many  of  the  Democratic 
papers,  in  their  zeal  for  party  victory,  were  so  treasonable  in  their 
utterances  that  they  were  suppressed  as  a  military  necessity.  Bit- 
terest of  all  to  Mr.  Lincoln  must  have  been  the  vile  attacks  of  the 
press  in  his  old  home  that  he  loved  so  well.  A  short  time  ago  a 
friend,  while  looking  over  files  of  Springfield  papers  in  search  of 
some  information  about  the  State  Sanitary  Fair,  came  across  the 
following  squib  in  the  Springfield  State  Register,  August  4,  1864: 

Today  is  "Massa  Linkum's  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer."  As 
The  Register  thinks,  the  nation  has  ample  reason  for  fasting,  because  Lin- 
coln has  made  food  so  high ;  for  humiliation  at  the  disgrace  his  miserable, 
imbecile  policies  have  brought  upon  us,  and  for  prayer  that  God  in  His 
goodness  will  spare  us  a  second  term  of  such  a  president. 

Even  after  Vicksburg  and  Gettysburg,  and  the  battles  of  the 
Wilderness  had  cast  a  ray  of  light  and  hope  on  the  sadness  and 
darkness  of  his  life  of  trial,  the  enemies  of  freedom  pursued  him 
with  a  bitter  hate,  while  his  friends  doubted  and  mistrusted  him. 

Four  years  of  these  petty  persecutions  made  of  the  fruit  of  his 
victory  at  the  polls  wormwood  and  gall.  But  after  these  four 
years  of  patient  endurance,  forbearance  and  loving  kindness,  he, 
at  last,  tasted  the  sweet  fruits  of  success  in  the  ultimate  triumph 
of  the  cause  of  the  Union.  The  tidings  of  the  surrender  of  Lee  at 
Appomatox,  of  Jones,  Thomson  and  Kirby  Smith,  by  which  over 
100,000  combatants  had  laid  down  their  arms,  sent  a  thrill  of  ex- 
ultation over  the  country.  "The  pealing  bells  of  victory  sounded 
sweetly  on  ears  to  which  they  chanted  their  tale  of  ended  strife ; 
of  a  people  really  free  and  of  a  Union  to  be  forever  undissolu- 
ble.  The  thanksgiving  that  welled  up  in  every  breast  found  voice 
in  public  utterance  of  praise  to  Him  to  whom  our  forefathers  had 
commended  the  infant  Union  of  states." 

"But  the  chants  of  victory  were  soon  changed  to  cries  of  woe, 
the  peons  of  triumph  into  the  saddest  of  requiems."  The  life  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  had  been  laid  on  the  altar  of  patriotism;  but 
he  had  been  permitted  to  see  the  fetters  fall  from  three  million 
bondsmen,  to  witness  the  triumphant  termination  of  that  gigantic 
struggle  in  which  for  four  years  he  had  been  the  central  figure 


94  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  which  triumph  his  sagacity,  his  patience,  his  unswerving  de- 
votion had  rendered  possible. 

Deliberate  in  action,  calm  in  danger,  sincere  in  thought,  kindly 
in  feeling,  wise  in  council,  this  devoted  servant  of  the  state  guided 
the  nation  to  safety  and  then  found  rest  from  the  labors  that  had 
worn  and  saddened  him  for  five  long  stormy  years. 

His  final  triumph  through  martyrdom  has,  in  the  prophetic 
words  of  Owen  Lovejoy,  placed  him  on  the  topmost  stone  of  the 
Temple  of  Fame: 

"There  is  a  niche  for  Abraham  Lincoln  in  Freedom's  Holy 
Fane,  radiant  with  the  light  of  Liberty.  In  that  niche  he  will 
stand  proudly,  nobly,  gloriously,  with  shattered  fetters  and  broken 
chains  beneath  his  feet.  His  fame  will  be  a  fame  worth  living  for, 
aye  more,  a  fame  worth  dying  for,  though  that  death  led  through 
the  blood  of  Gethsemane  and  the  agony  of  the  accursed  Tree. 
That  is  a  fame  which  has  glory  and  honor  and  Eternal  Life.  His 
name  will  not  only  be  enrolled  in  this  Earthly  Temple,  but  it  will 
be  traced  on  the  living  stones  of  that  Temple  which  rears  itself 
amid  the  thrones  and  Hierarchies  of  Heaven,  whose  top  stone  is 
to  be  brought  in  with  shouting  of  Grace — Grace  unto  it." 


PART  THREE— RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

He  walked  the  sunny  side  of   fate; 
The  wise  world  smiled  and  called  him  great; 
The    golden    fruitage    of    success 
Dropped  at  his   feet  in  plenteousness. 

— Thomas  Moore. 


CHAPTER  I. 
MOST  DISTINGUISHED  CITIZEN. 

Decatur  claims  as  her  most  distinguished  and  best  beloved 
citizen,  Richard  J.  Oglesby,  Major  General  U.  S.  A.,  three  times 
governor  of  Illinois,  and  once  United  States  senator.  Although 
not  born  in  Decatur,  Decatur  was  the  home  of  his  youth  and  of 
his  maturity,  and  his  home  when  the  people  of  Illinois  heaped 
honors  upon  him.  He  loved  Decatur  and  delighted  to  honor  her. 

When  the  legislature  of  Illinois  made  an  appropriation  for  a 
portrait  of  Governor  Oglesby  to  be  hung  in  the  state  house,  Miss 
Johns,  of  Decatur,  wrote  to  the  governor  asking  him  to  give  the 
commission  to  Joseph  De  Camp,  an  eminent  Boston  artist  who 
had  been  her  instructor.  "No  Laura,"  he  answered,  "I  won't. 
That  portrait  must  be  painted  by  an  Illinois  artist,  and  if  a  little 
Decatur  girl  who  has  been  a  pupil  of  Mr.  De  Camp  will  undertake 
it,  I  would  above  all  things  be  delighted  to  have  a  Decatur  artist 
honor  me  by  painting  it.  Illinois  certainly,  Decatur,  if  possible, 
must  do  the  work.  Will  you  try  it  ?" 

Miss  Laura  Johns  painted  the  picture  and  it  now  hangs  in  the 
state  house  at  Springfield. 

It  was  during  the  few  sittings  that  he  gave  Miss  Johns  for 
that  portrait  that  he  told  me  the  history  of  his  early  life. 

"Six  times  when  I  was  a  boy,"  he  said,  "I  tried  to  get  away 
from  Decatur,  and  six  times  I  was  forced  by  fate  to  return.  I 

95 


96  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

was  ambitious,  but  there  seemed  no  opening  for  an  ambitious  boy 
in  Decatur.  Poverty  compelled  me  to  work,  but  neither  carpen- 
try, nor  farming,  nor  rope  making  satisfied  my  ambitious  soul.  I 
failed  in  every  thing,  yet  I  knew  that  some  day  I  would  not  be  a 
failure.  When  I  enlisted  for  the  Mexican  War  and  was  made 
lieutenant  I  thought  I  had  found  my  place  in  the  world.  I  was 
to  be  a  soldier. 

"But  the  war  ended  and  again  Decatur  drew  me  and  poverty 
compelled  me.  I  wanted  to  study  law.  I  had  found  out  that  when 
I  talked,  men  listened,  and  was  anxious  to  try  my  gift  of  gab. — 
which  seemed  to  be  the  only  gift  I  had, — at  the  bar.  I  was  fool 
enough  to  think  that  to  be  a  good  orator  would  make  me  a  suc- 
cessful lawyer,  but  I  soon  learned  that  gab  was  only  one  of  the 
smallest  requisites  for  a  lawyer.  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  find 
in  Sherry  Wait  a  partner  who  supplied  my  deficiencies.  I  was  not 
cut  out  for  a  lawyer ;  I  know  that  now.  I  have  been  a  success- 
ful politician  but  not  a  lawyer.  I  believe  I  have  been  of  some 
service  to  my  country,  and  my  life  has  not  been  wasted." 

Mr.  Oglesby's  origin  was  not  of  the  humble  order  of  Mr  Lin- 
coln's. His  parents  were  people  of  education  and  refinement.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  and  slave  owner,  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Kentucky  legislature  and  a  colonel  of  a  militia  regiment.  His 
mother  was  of  English  descent  and  his  father  was  Scotch.  They 
were  prosperous  people,  until  in  June,  1833,  when  the  cholera 
broke  out  in  the  vicinity  in  which  they  lived  and  in  a  very  short 
time  father  and  mother,  two  brothers  and  a  sister  fell  victims  to 
the  insatiate  scourge.  The  home  was  broken  up  and  the  family 
scattered.  Richard,  who  was  then  eight  years  old,  with  his  sisters, 
were  taken  to  the  home  of  an  uncle.  The  settlement  of  his  fath- 
er's estate  necessitated  the  sale  of  the  slaves,  and  it  was  wit- 
nessing this  sale  that  made  of  Oglesby  an  abolitionist. 

Mr.  F.  B.  Wilkie,  who  was  a  guest  of  Governor  Oglesby  at 
Ogleshurst  a  few  years  before  his  death,  published  a  very  inter- 
esting account  of  his  visit  and  repeated  in  the  governor's  own 
words  some  reminiscences  of  his  early  life.  By  permission  of 
Lieutenant  Governor  John  Oglesby  I  quote  from  Mr.  Wilkie's  ar- 
ticle some  of  these  stories,  the  first  of  which  was  in  answer  to  a 


MOST  DISTINGUISHED  CITIZEN  97 

question  as  to  how  he,  a  Kentuckian,  became  a  confirmed  aboli- 
tionist. 

"Uncle  Tim"  was  a  slave  who  had  descended  from  my  grandfather  to 
my  father,  and  was  one  of  several  in  the  family.  My  father  died  when  I 
was  a  small  boy  and  we  became  embarrassed,  and  in  order  to  divide  up 
what  little  there  was  left,  "Uncle  Tim"  had  to  be  sold.  I  well  remember 
him  as  he  stood  up  on  a  box  ready  for  the  sale.  He  was  a  powerful  man, 
far  above  the  average  height,  with  a  manly  bearing,  a  fine  face,  and  a  skin 
as  black  as  ebony.  He  had  always  been  very  fond  of  us  children  and  I 
thought  almost  as  much  of  him  as  if  he  had  been  my  father. 

As  he  stood  waiting,  he  implored,  with  tears  streaming  from  his  eyes, 
a  brother  of  my  father  to  buy  him.  That  was  impossible,  and  observing  his 
dejection  and  surmising  its  cause,  I  said  : 

"  'Uncle  Tim !'  I  am  going  to  work  to  earn  money,  and  when  I  get 
enough  I  will  buy  you  and  set  you  free." 

His  face  lighted  up  with  pride  and  pleasure  as  I  said  this,  but  a  look 
of  despair  soon  clouded  the  brightness.  He  came  down,  lifted  me  up  in 
his  arms,  and  said  sadly :  "Thanks,  Marse  Dick,  you  are  a  poor  orphan 
and  won't  never  be  rich  enough  to  buy  'Uncle  Tim.' "  He  was  sold,  and 
being  past  his  prime,  only  brought  some  $400. 

I  moved  to  Illinois  in  time ;  I  struggled ;  I  went  back  to  Kentucky ; 
and  grew  no  richer.  I  used  to  see  "Uncle  Tim"  occasionally,  and  I  al- 
ways assured  him  that  some  day  I  would  buy  him.  He  always  seemed  to 
listen  to  me  gratefully,  but  apparently  had  no  hope  of  my  success.  In  1849, 
I  went  to  California,  and  after  much  effort  1  made  a  few  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  then  returned  to  the  states.  The  first  thing  I  did  was  to  fulfill 
my  promise.  I  sent  the  money  to  my  brother  and  "Uncle  Tim"  was  pur- 
chased. 

I  was  standing  in  front  of  the  porch  of  my  brother's  house  some  days 
later  when  "Uncle  Tim"  came  out  of  a  piece  of  woods  a  little  distance 
away,  and  approached  along  a  pathway.  It  was  a  striking  picture, — such 
as  I  never  before  or  since  have  witnessed.  He  was  a  giant  in  stature ;  his 
abundant  gray  hair  was  thrown  back  on  his  shoulders ;  his  face  was  livid 
and  ashen,  reminding  one  of  the  statue  of  Moses,  by  Michael  Angelo.  His 
countenance  was  aglow —  here  Oglesby  rose  to  his  feet,  and,  with  expanded 
chest,  brought  his  upraised  arm  down  with  the  sweep  of  a  sledge-hammer, 
and  continued, — "and  shone  as  if  lighted  by  the  very  presence  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  When  he  caught  sight  of  me,  he  stopped,  threw  back  his  head, 
raised  his  arms  for  above  him,  and  exclaimed  :  "My  God !  My  God !  Has 
the  little  orphan  boy  lived  to  buy  and  set  me  free !" 

Then  he  put  his  arms  around  me  and  tried  to  lift  me  as  in  the  old  days, 
but  he  had  grown  too  weak  and  I  had  grown  too  large.  "You  can't  lift  me 
any  more,  'Uncle  Tim,' "  I  said.  "No,"  he  answered  in  a  sad  tone  and  then 
with  an  exulting  tone  he  shouted,  as  he  turned  his  face  toward  the  sky, 
"Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Fsefree!" 

The  impression  left  upon  young  Oglesby's  mind  by  the  break- 
ing up  of  his  family  ties  was  indelible.  He  was  eight  years  old. 
Death  had  taken  father,  mother,  brothers  and  sisters.  Financial 
ruin  had  deprived  him  of  home  and  farm  and  faithful  servants, 
and  with  nothing  but  a  pair  of  willing  hands,  a  loving  heart,  and 


98  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

an  ambitious  brain,  he  was  thrown  upon  the  charity  of  relatives 
almost  as  resourceless  as  was  the  orphan  boy  whom  they  sheltered 
and  cared  for.  From  the  day  of  his  father's  death,  his  career  was 
one  long  struggle  with  poverty  and  disappointment.  Yet,  though 
all  these  trials  gave  a  tinge  of  melancholy  to  his  naturally  bouyant 
disposition,  they  did  not  daunt  his  courage  nor  break  his  faith  in 
ultimate  success.  He  once  told  me  that  there  never  had  been  a 
time  in  his  life  when  he  faltered  or  feared.  He  believed  destiny 
had  in  store  for  him  a  mission  and  would  not  be  balked  of  its  pur- 
pose. 

He  had  very  little  schooling.  He  learned  to  read  and  write 
while  living  in  Kentucky,  and  after  he  came  to  Decatur  went  to 
school  for  three  months,  and  then  graduated  from  the  school 
house  to  complete  his  education  in  the  University  of  Work  and 
the  study  of  men ! 

In  1836,  Mr.  Willis  Oglesby  moved  to  Decatur,  bringing  with 
him  young  Dick  and  his  three  sisters.  One  of  these  sisters  died 
soon  after  their  arrival,  and  was  buried  in  Decatur.  Amanda,  af- 
terwards Mrs.  Henry  Prather,  and  Ophelia,  Mrs.  J.  J.  Peddecord, 
always  welcomed  and  cared  for  their  younger  brother  when  he 
made  one  of  his  many  returns  to  Decatur,  and  his  migratory  uncle 
had  abandoned  and  left  him  to  his  own  resources.  Many  old  citi- 
zens of  Decatur  remember  quaint  old  "Grandma"  Oglesby,  who 
was  the  "Aunt  Judy"  Oglesby  loved  and  honored  as  a  mother,  and 
who  lived  to  see  him  occupy  the  high  position  of  governor  of  Illi- 
nois. She  always  loved  to  tell  stories  of  "Dicky's"  escapades,  and 
final  returns  to  her  sheltering  arms. 

Mr.  Oglesby  was  not  financially  a  success  in  his  early  youth; 
though  for  that  matter  neither  was  anybody  else.  Illinois  was  his 
home,  and  Illinois  was  under  a  cloud.  An  enormous  state  debt 
hung  over  the  people,  an  incubus  that  paralyzed  individual  ef- 
fort. There  was  no  money,  and  barter  was  the  only  trade  me- 
dium. He  that  had  nothing  to  barter  but  the  labor  of  his  hands 
could  always  find  enough  to  eat,  though  perhaps  very  little  to 
wear,  and  nothing  to  lay  by  in  store  for  the  future.  This  ambi- 
tious young  man  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  then  tried  farming, 
and  after  a  summer's  hard  work  found  himself  with  $6.50  in  his 


MOST  DISTINGUISHED  CITIZEN  99 

pocket,  the  result  of  his  portion  of  the  season's  crop.  This  muni- 
ficent return  did  not  include  his  board  for  which  he  had  chored 
with  a  relative. 

His  share  of  the  crop  raised  that  summer  was  taken  in  hemp. 
He  invented  a  machine  for  breaking  it,  built  a  rope  walk  and 
manufactured  it,  and,  in  telling  the  story,  exclaimed  that  he  "had 
the  proud  satisfaction  of  having  made  from  my  hemp,  broken  by 
my  machine  and  twisted  on  my  walk,  the  rope  with  which  the  first 
flat  boat  on  the  Sangamon  river  was  launched." 

He  always  hoped  to  be  able  to  study  law,  and  whether  the 
above  $6.50  was  the  capital  upon  which  he  ventured  to  go  to 
Springfield  and  enter  the  office  of  Judge  Silas  W.  Robbins  as  a 
student,  I  am  not  informed,  but  after  the  hemp  episode,  he  gave 
up  manual  labor  and  "read  the  first  volume  of  Blackstone's  Com- 
mentaries." 

After  one  year  of  study  he  was  licensed  to  practice  law  and 
opened  an  office  in  Sullivan,  where  he  "studied  the  constitution  of 
the  state  and  also  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,"  had  a 
few  cases  in  the  spring  term  of  court,  and  then  once  more  re- 
turned to  Decatur. 

War  had  been  declared  with  Mexico  and  Oglesby  enlisted 
as  a  private.  Although  at  the  time  the  position  was  a  humble 
one,  the  step  had  its  influence  in  later  life.  It  prepared  him  for 
intelligent  participation  in  the  gigantic  Civil  war  of  the  states, 
and  was  the  foundation  on  which  was  based  the  high  promotion 
which  was  constructed  for  his  benefit  as  a  reward  for  his  serv- 
ices. 

He  enlisted  in  Company  C  of  the  Fourth  Illinois  Infantry, 
Colonel  Baker  in  command.  He  was  elected  second  lieutenant 
and  at  last  found  himself  in  a  congenial  atmosphere.  He  became 
a  close  student  of  Hardee's  tactics  and  was  made  drillmaster  of 
the  company.  He  was  so  successful  in  this  work  that  in  a  little 
time  he  had  made  himself  thoroughly  disliked  by  many  of  the 
members,  who  were  not  disposed  to  submit  to  such  tasks,  and 
who  saw  no  reason  why  they  should  not  enjoy  soldiering  as 
they  would  a  picnic. 

A   little   episode  grew   out  of   this   unpopularity   which   is 


ioo  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

illustrative  of  a  salient  trait  in  the  character  of  the  future  Gov- 
ernor. The  opposition  against  him  grew  into  open  murmurs  and 
arranged  itself  about  a  member  of  the  same  company,  who,  it 
was  urged  by  the  malcontents,  would  be  a  better  man  in  Ogles- 
by's  place.  They  began  to  demand  that  there  should  be  held 
another  election. 

One  day,  at  the  close  of  a  dress  parade,  a  young  man  stepped 
in  front  of  the  company  and  said  in  a  loud  voice,  "I  will  bet  two 
jackknives  and  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  that  Blank  (naming  the 
rival  of  the  unpopular  lieutenant)  can  beat  Dick  Oglesby  in  a 
foot  race  of  sixty  yards." 

A  friend  of  the  latter  immediately  stepped  forward  and  ac- 
cepted the  challenge." 

"I  knew  at  once,"  said  Oglesby,  in  commenting  on  the  inci- 
dent, "what  this  challenge  meant.  It  was  an  attempt  to  disgrace 
me.  He  was  a  noted  athlete,  especially  as  a  runner,  and  it  was 
thought  he  could  beat  me  easily.  Then  it  was  expected  that  I 
would  be  forced  to  resign,  and  he  would,  of  course,  be  elected  to 
fill  the  vacancy. 

"I  accepted  the  challenge,  for  there  was  nothing  else  to  do.  It 
was  success  or  ruin.  The  proposed  event  created  an  immense 
amount  of  excitement  and  was  the  talk  of  the  camp.  I  had  my 
supporters  and  they  bet  their  jack-knives,  money,  when  they  had 
it,  and  anything  which  would  be  accepted  as  a  wager. 

"The  appointed  day  came,  and,  stripped  to  the  buff,  except 
as  to  my  trousers,  we  toed  the  line.  Both  were  bareheaded,  I 
was  barefooted,  while  he  wore  his  stockings.  Along  on  both 
sides  of  the  track  to  be  run  over,  the  entire  regiment  was  gath- 
ered, and  with  it  were  vast  numbers  of  civilian  spectators.  I  felt 
that  my  very  life  was  on  the  race,  and  that  I  would  win — I  must 
win. 

"The  word  was  given,  and  we  started  like  deer  hounds.  We 
ran  abreast,  not  the  fraction  of  an  inch  being  perceptible  as  the 
gain  of  either.  Pull  away  from  him  I  could  not.  The  crowd 
roared  and  cheered,  and  frantically  called  the  names  of  one  or 
the  other  of  us  to  win  the  race.  Clinging  close  to  each  other,  we 
went  on  till  we  began  to  near  the  line,  and  for  a  moment  a  feel- 


MOST  DISTINGUISHED  CITIZEN  101 

ing  of  despair  came  over  me,  and  I  believed  I  was  lost !  Just  then 
there  came  over  me  like  an  electric  flash  the  conviction,  I  cannot, 
I  must  not,  lose!  A  mighty  impulse  possessed  me;  I  made  a 
prodigious  bound,  and  crossed  the  line  six  inches  in  advance ! 

"The  roar  that  went  up  from  the  crowd  was  deafening!  I 
was  the  hero  of  the  hour!  From  that  time  there  was  no  opposi- 
tion in  the  company,  and  my  opponent  became  my  hearty  friend." 


CHAPTER  II. 
ARGONAUT  AND  ORATOR. 

The  life  of  a  soldier,  especially  that  of  an  officer,  proved  very 
congenial  to  young  Oglesby.  His  record  in  the  Mexican  war  was 
an  enviable  one.  He  fought  at  Vera  Cruz  and  Cerro  Gordo,  com- 
manding his  company  in  both  battles.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he 
seriously  contemplated  entering  the  regular  army,  believing  him- 
self peculiarly  fitted  for  a  soldier's  life,  but  again  Decatur  called 
him,  and  he  returned  to  the  study  and  practice  of  law.  He  at- 
tended a  Louisville  law  school  for  three  months,  received  his  di- 
ploma, and  in  the  spring  of  1849  became  a  member  of  the  Macon 
County  Bar. 

But  his  wandering  disposition  and  his  thirst  for  adventure 
soon  drew  him  away  from  his  chosen  profession,  and  the  lure  of 
the  El  Dorado  of  the  west  led  him  to  join  a  party  of  eight  De- 
catur men  who  crossed  the  plains  to  California  in  1849. 

His  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Henry  Prather,  Mr.  E.  O.  Smith 
and  Mr.  Samuel  Powers  were  members  of  this  party.  Oglesby 
drove  a  team  of  six  mules  from  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  to  Sacramento. 
The  trip  consumed  ninety-five  days  and  was  one  of  hardship  and 
adventure.  Though  financially  successful,  Mr.  Oglesby  always 
said  that  the  gold  he  acquired  in  this  venture  was  of  less  value  to 
him  than  the  stimulating  desire  for  a  broader  education  and  a 
more  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  world  and  of  men,  which 
was  engendered  by  his  two  years  of  experience  in  search  of  it, 
though  he  returned  to  Decatur  with  $4,500.  He  had  lost  more 
than  half  of  his  gains  through  the  failure  of  a  business  agent  and 
the  burning  of  Nevada  City,  but  he  was  no  longer  compelled  by 
poverty  to  suppress  his  ambitious  desire  for  a  career  wider  than 
that  of  a  mere  laborer,  so,  upon  the  advice  and  with  the  assistance 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  he  decided  to  enter  the  arena  of  politics,  and  be- 
came a  candidate  for  presidential  elector  on  the  Whig  ticket.  He 


102 


ARGONAUT  AND  ORATOR  103 

made  numerous  political  speeches  at  the  time  and  established  a 
reputation  as  a  stump  speaker. 

In  1853  Mr.  Oglesby  formed  a  law  partnership  with  Sheridan 
Wait,  who  became  his  lifelong  friend  and  adviser. 

Mr.  Oglesby  was  never  satisfied  with  his  educational  ac- 
quirements and  determined  to  devote  the  proceeds  of  the  Califor- 
nia venture  to  acquiring  a  larger  knowledge  of  the  world  than 
that  presented  by  the  limited  confines  in  which  he  moved.  He 
decided  that,  as  he  was  too  old  to  take  a  course  in  college,  he 
would  enter  the  school  of  travel,  and  in  April,  1856,  he  left  Illi- 
nois for  a  tour  of  Great  Britain  and  Europe,  which  was  finally 
extended  to  Egypt,  Arabia,  Palestine  and  Asia  Minor.  He  first 
traveled  over  Ireland  and  Scotland  and  next  visited  the  English 
parliament,  which  was  at  that  time  in  session.  He  visited  Paris 
and  Berlin  and  other  European  cities,  extending  his  tour  to  St. 
Petersburg  and  throughout  Russia. 

After  more  than  a  year  in  Europe,  Mr.  Oglesby  sailed  for 
Egypt  and  went  up  the  river  Nile  to  Thebes.  Over  forty  days 
was  consumed  in  that  Nile  journey.  He  then  traveled  by  cara- 
van across  the  desert  to  the  Holy  Land.  He  became  greatly  in- 
terested in  the  study  of  the  Bible  while  he  was  in  Palestine  and 
brought  home  some  very  interesting  souvenirs,  among  them  two 
bottles  of  water  from  the  river  Jordan.  These  were  carefully 
preserved  and  the  water  was  used  many  years  after  in  christening 
his  children.  He  has  often  told  it  on  himself  that  it  was  on  the 
peak  of  Mt.  Sinai  that  he  first  committed  to  memory  the  ten  com- 
mandments. 

Under  conditions  at  that  time  it  took,  all  told,  forty  days  for 
the  trip  from  Cairo  to  Jerusalem.  He  traveled  over  all  portions 
of  Asia  Minor,  finally  arriving  at  Beirut,  where  he  set  sail  for 
Constantinople.  He  next  visited  Greece  and,  after  a  prolonged 
stay  in  that  country,  went  to  Italy  where  his  observations  were 
no  less  thorough  and  his  stay  sufficiently  prolonged  to  give  him  a 
comprehensive  knowledge  of  that  country.  Heading  now  to- 
wards home,  he  passed  through  Switzerland  and  on  to  Berlin, 
thence  to  Holland,  to  Paris,  to  England,  and  finally  arrived  home 


IO4  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

in  December,  1857.  In  those  days  such  a  trip  was  almost  un- 
precedented. 

That  journey  was  of  incalculable  value  to  Oglesby  in  develop- 
ing his  mind  and  completing  for  him  an  education  which  had  been 
far  too  much  neglected  in  the  schools.  He  was  one  of  those  rare 
men  who  travel  studiously  and  intelligently.  His  acute  observa- 
tions of  the  strange  and  wondrous  sights  of  the  old  world  were 
told  in  his  own  quaint  fashion,  much  to  the  delight  of  those 
whose  privilege  it  was  to  hear  him.  The  story  had  to  be  told 
so  often  that  his  friends  finally  asked  him  to  deliver  a  series  of 
lectures  on  his  travels. 

The  first  of  these  was  advertised  as  "A  Lecture  on  the  Holy 
Land,"  to  be  delivered  in  Powers  Hall.  Mr.  Oglesby  had  one 
great  advantage  over  modern  lecturers  on  travel  in  having  a  story 
to  tell  that  was  new  to  his  audience,  not  one  of  whom  had  crossed 
the  ocean. 

When  he  stepped  upon  the  platform  and  laid  his  notes  on  the 
table  before  him,  he  was  received  with  warm  applause,  and  com- 
menced a  little  "preliminary  talk"  about  his  reasons  for  becoming 
a  traveler ;  about  his  emotions  on  leaving  his  native  land ;  about 
his  trip  to  New  York;  about  the  sea  and  sea-sickness.  He  was 
intensely  interested  in  his  own  story  and  his  audience  was  en- 
thralled with  his  eloquence,  oblivious  to  time  or  space  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  proposed  lecture. 

After  about  an  hour  of  this  "little  preliminary,"  he  looked  at 
his  watch  and  with  a  look  of  profound  astonishment  exclaimed, 
"It's  after  10  o'clock  and  I  have  not  got  started  to  the  Holy 
Land!" 

"Go  on!"  "Let's  have  the  Holy  Land  some  other  time,"  and 
similar  exclamations  came  from  every  part  of  the  hall. 

"Well,  then,  I  will  let  the  Holy  Land  go  for  tonight,"  said  Mr. 
Oglesby,  "and  I  will  tell  you  a  little  about  what  I  saw  in  Russia 
and  Poland,  which  will  be  quite  as  interesting  and  will  not  take  so 
long." 

When  he  got  to  Poland  he  again  looked  at  his  watch  and  de- 
clared that  it  was  1 1  o'clock.  "Go  on !"  "Go  on !"  fairly  shrieked 
the  audience.  Dr.  Trowbridge,  who  had  presided  at  the  meeting, 


ARGONAUT  AND  ORATOR  105 

called  for  quiet  and  offered  a  resolution,  "That  Mr.  Oglesby  be 
requested  to  continue  his  'preliminary  talk'  tomorrow  evening, 
and  to  give  his  lecture  on  the  Holy  Land  at  some  future  date." 

The  resolution  was  enthusiastically  carried  and  resulted  in  a 
series  of  these  talks  that,  I  think,  took  five  evenings  to  complete, 
and  then  we  had  not  enough. 

The  fame  of  these  lectures  went  abroad  and  Mr.  Oglesby 
was  in  great  demand  as  a  lecturer  for  charitable  and  church  pur- 
poses. 

It  was  these  "talks  of  travel"  that  first  developed  the  won- 
derful magnetic  power  of  Oglesby 's  eloquence.  His  audiences 
never  tired.  If  he  himself  was  enthused,  he  generally  became  as 
excited  as  his  audience.  Great  rivers  of  perspiration  would  pour 
off  his  brow  and  down  his  cheks.  An  admirer  once  said,  in 
speaking  of  his  eloquence,  "He  melts  off  his  collars  and  his  cuffs.' 

Probably  as  a  "stump  speaker"  he  had  no  superior  on  the 
continent.  He  seemed  to  at  once  get  himself  in  sympathy  with 
his  auditors.  He  was  electric,  moving,  full  of  a  penetrating  en- 
thusiasm which  communicated  itself  to  his  listeners,  and  they 
thenceforth  were  swayed  under  his  impetuous  eloquence  like  the 
waves  of  the  sea  by  a  tempest. 

"Some  one  relates  that  in  1878  he  spoke  at  a  political  meet- 
ing in  Tuscola.  Two  old  men  came  into  the  hall,  so  old,  so  de- 
crepit, so  rheumatic  in  their  ancient  bodies  that  they  could  but 
just  crawl.  They  were  rheumy,  stiff,  deaf  and  querulous.  One 
came  in  on  crutches  and  the  other  hobbled  along  painfully,  sup- 
ported by  a  couple  of  canes.  They  secured  seats  and  sat  down 
as  if  they  intended  to  stay  there  the  remainder  of  their  days.  Og- 
lesby was  at  his  best.  He  warmed  up  gradually  until  his  listeners 
began  to  writhe  and  gasp  under  the  influence  of  his  inspired 
words.  The  two  old  men  shared  the  contagion  of  his  eloquence ; 
they  straightened  up,  their  dim  eyes  began  to  enkindle  and  their 
slow  pulse  to  keep  time  with  the  outrushing  torrent.  A  few  mo- 
ments more  and  the  two  octogenarians  were  on  their  feet  with 
the  remainder  of  the  audience,  dancing  wildly  about,  swinging 
their  canes  and  crutches,  and  yelling  in  their  enthusiasm  with  a 


io6  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

volume  and  a  strength  of  tone  which  they  had  not  before  known 
for  half  a  century.  For  a  moment  they  were  young  again." 

Mr.  Oglesby's  eloquence  was  always  convincing.  One  who 
listened  to  him,  who  watched  him  as  he  talked,  felt  and  knew 
beyond  all  cavil  that  he  meant  just  what  he  said,  that  he  concealed 
nothing,  that  there  was  no  unuttered  secret  thought.  He  im- 
pressed one  with  the  conviction  that  he  was  no  sham ;  that  he  had 
a  profound  hatred  for  all  that  is  hollow  or  pretends  to  be  what  it 
is  not.  His  beautiful  sincerity  shone  on  his  honest  face,  rang  in 
his  vibrating  and  hearty  tones,  and  forced  itself  as  an  unaltera- 
ble conviction  into  the  consciousness  of  every  one  who  listened 
to  him. 

He  was  once  asked  what  method  he  pursued  in  preparing  a 
speech  and  answered,  "I  make  no  preparation.  The  only  speech 
which  I  ever  wrote  was  the  one  which  I  delivered  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  Lincoln  monument  at  Springfield.  That  I  read,  and  it 
is  the  exception  of  my  life. 

"How  do  I  speak?  I  don't  know.  The  other  evening  I  was 
at  the  encampment  at  Decatur  and  was  called  on  for  a  speech. 
When  I  rose  to  my  feet  I  had  not  the  smallest  idea  what  I  should 
say.  I  happened  to  have  the  ritual  in  my  hand  and  unconsciously 
glanced  at  the  opening  line.  An  idea  came,  and  I  followed  it  up. 
I  spoke  for  some  time,  and  I  judge  from  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
audience  that  the  address  was  well  received.  (It  was  vociferously 
received).  And  yet,  till  I  was  on  my  feet  and  happened  to  glance 
at  the  opening  line  of  the  ritual,  I  had  not  a  shadow  of  a  thought 
as  to  what  I  was  to  say.  What  is  curious  about  it  is,  that  the  line 
of  thought  which  I  followed  was  entirely  new  to  me, — one  I  had 
never  entertained  before. 

"I  never  study  a  subject  in  advance.  When  I  get  on  my  feet 
I  have  an  idea,  or  one  presents  itself,  and  I  begin  to  bring  it  out. 
As  I  get  on  a  little  further  another  comes,  like  a  little  side  rivulet, 
and  then  there  comes  another  and  another  of  these  feeders  till 
there  is  a  heavy  stream  which  carries  me  along,  as  it  were,  with- 
out effort." 

In  1858,  the  Republicans  of  this  congressional  district,  hoping 
for  a  political  revolution,  decided  to  put  Oglesby's  eloquence  in 


ARGONAUT  AND  ORATOR  107 

the  balance  against  the  strong  Democratic  sentiment  that  ruled 
the  southern  counties.  He  was  not  nominated  by  a  convention, 
but  was  chosen  to  make  the  run  as  an  independent  candidate.  His 
opponent  was  Mr.  James  C.  Robinson,  whom  Oglesby  challenged 
to  meet  him  in  a  joint  debate.  Mr.  Robinson  strenuously  ob- 
jected to  meeting  Oglesby  as  an  independent,  and  demanded  that 
he  show  his  colors.  Mr.  Oglesby  thus  tells  the  story : 

My  position  as  an  independent  was  untenable.  I  saw  that  Mr.  Robin- 
son, with  a  large  majority  to  begin  with,  would  be  likely  to  increase  it,  and 
without  consulting  my  friends,  in  our  joint  debate  at  Marshall,  in  Clark 
county,  I  came  out  and  took  strong  Republican  ground ;  and  from  that  time 
on  it  was  a  rough  and  tumble  fight,  but  good  naturedly  conducted  to  the  end 
of  the  campaign.  Mr.  Robinson  was  an  able  debater  and  a  strong  man  in 
his  party,  and  I  had  my  hands  full  to  compete  with  him. 

On  one  occasion  a  meeting  was  held  at  Louisville,  Clay  county,  and  as 
Robinson  had  the  concluding  speech,  I  adjourned  to  the  street  in  front  of 
the  hotel,  where  I  found  an  Irishman  with  a  violin,  and  about  him  were 
some  of  his  friends.  He  asked  me  if  I  could  play  well  enough  for  a  street 
dance  and,  taking  the  fiddle,  I  began  playing  the  "Arkansas  Traveler."  A 
crowd  soon  collected.  Large  numbers  came  out  of  the  court  house  in  which 
Robinson  was  speaking,  and  soon  there  was  a  dance  in  progress  in  which 
everybody  took  a  part. 

Upon  closing  his  speech,  my  worthy  opponent  came  out,  looked  for  a 
moment  over  the  scene  and  then,  to  get  even  with  me,  he  rushed  into  the 
dance,  pulled  off  his  coat  and  commenced  dancing  with  the  vim  of  a  der- 
vish. It  is  my  opinion  that  before  the  dance  was  over  he  had  recaptured 
from  me  every  friend  that  I  had  made  by  my  fiddling.  The  only  satisfac- 
tion that  I  got  out  of  the  occurrence  was  that  I  had  been  able  to  make  the 
Democratic  candidate  dance  to  my  music. 

The  friends  of  Robinson  had  confidently  expected  that  he 
would  carry  the  district  by  from  4,000  to  5,000  votes.  His  actual 
majority  was  a  little  over  1,800. 

Though  defeated  by  a  small  majority  for  this,  the  first  office 
that  he  had  ever  sought,  the  campaign  was  really  a  personal 
triumph.  By  his  convincing  earnestness,  his  hearty  good  nature 
and  his  fervid  eloquence  he  had  made  hosts  of  friends,  even 
among  his  opponents,  one  of  whom  once  said,  "Just  set  Oglesby 
to  talking  and,  by  Jove,  he  will  soon  make  an  abolitionist  of  ever 
blasted  Democrat  in  the  state !" 

Mr.  Oglesby  had  for  years  been  a  warm  admirer  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, and  after  the  Douglas-Lincoln  debates  he  became  convinced 
that  "Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  man  who  could  lead  the  Republican 
party  out  of  the  wilderness."  "Of  course  Seward  is  the  logical 


io8  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

candidate,"  said  he,  "but  Lincoln  is  the  man  of  all  men  who  can 
be  depended  upon  to  safely  guide  the  nation  through  the  raging 
flood  of  secession  which  is  overwhelming  us." 

The  idea  of  inventing  some  popular  slogan  which  could  be 
used  as  a  talisman,  after  the  pattern  of  the  Log  Cabin  and  Hard 
Cider  craze  of  1840,  occurred  to  Oglesby,  and  the  Rail  banner 
which  nominated  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  result.  The  story  of  the 
conception  and  execution  of  that  "coup  d'etat"  is  told  in  a  for- 
mer chapter  but  it  is  certain  that  to  Mr.  Oglesby 's  inspired  action 
on  that  occasion  the  world  owes  Mr.  Lincoln's  nomination  and 
election,  and  his  subsequent  glorious  career. 


CHAPTER  III. 
LAYS  OUT  DECATUR  STREETS. 

Part  of  Mr.  Oglesby's  California  gold  was  added  to  a  land 
warrant,  received  as  a  soldier  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  invested 
in  land  north  and  west  of  Decatur  which  he  laid  out  in  town  lots. 
When  naming  the  streets  in  Oglesby's  addition,  Mr.  Lowber 
Burrows  suggested  that  he  commemorate  the  sources  from  which 
the  purchase  money  came,  so  Eldorado  street  was  named  for  Mr. 
Oglesby's  successful  California  venture,  and  Cerro  Gordo  after 
the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo  in  the  Mexican  war  in  which  he  had 
participated  with  distinction  and  which  was  the  source  of  his 
land  warrant. 

In  1858  and  1859,  Mr.  Oglesby  and  his  partner,  Mr.  Wait,  en- 
tered extensively  into  speculation  in  town  lots,  and  were  quite 
successful  in  their  ventures.  In  1859,  Mr.  Oglesby  married  Miss 
Anna  E.  White.  His  bride  was  one  of  Decatur's  society  belles, 
who,  with  her  sister,  "Hattie,"  (Mrs.  F.  L.  Hays),  had  made  their 
father's  house  one  of  the  gayest  in  the  town.  The  marriage  was 
a  happy  one.  There  was  never  a  more  devoted  and  loving  hus- 
band and  father  than  Richard  Oglesby. 

Two  of  his  children  sleep  beside  their  mother  in  Greenwood 
cemetery,  and  two,  Mrs.  Olive  Oglesby  Snyder,  of  Kansas  City, 
and  Robert  (Bob),  who  once  took  a  long  journey  around  the 
world  in  a  sailing  vessel  and  afterwards  made  a  fortune  in  the 
Kansas  oil  fields,  are  still  living.  "Bob"  was  born  in  the  gover- 
nor's mansion  in  Springfield,  only  a  short  time  before  his  moth- 
er's death. 


109 


CHAPTER  IV. 
FIRST  TO  RAISE  REGIMENT. 

In  1860,  in  order  to  aid  in  the  re-election  of  Judge  Trumbull 
to  the  United  States  senate,  Oglesby  consented  to  run  for  the 
state  senate  in  this  district,  which  had  heretofore  been  Demo- 
cratic by  a  majority  of  1,200.  Colonel  Color,  his  opponent,  was 
a  strong  and  popular  man,  and  their  joint  debates  were  very  ex- 
citing. Oglesby  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  240  votes,  served 
one  session  in  the  senate  and  resigned,  in  1861,  to  accept  the 
colonelship  of  the  Eight  Illinois  regiment. 

In  less  than  twenty-four  hours  after  the  lightning  flashed  the 
news  of  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumpter  and  three  hours  after  the 
president's  call  for  volunteers  to  defend  the  Union,  Oglesby  had 
tendered  his  services  to  Governor  Yates,  "in  any  capacity  where 
he  could  best  serve  his  country."  His  experience  in  the  Mexican 
war  and  the  soldierly  record  he  had  made,  caused  Governor 
Yates  to  appoint  him  colonel,  and  two  companies  were  organized 
in  Decatur  within  twenty-four  hours  to  join  his  regiment. 

Colonel  Oglesby 's  regiment  was  the  first  tendered  in  Illinois 
to  the  governor,  but  the  formalities  required  in  resigning  his  po- 
sition as  state  senator  before  he  could  receive  his  commission, 
caused  a  few  hours  delay,  and  Colonel  John  Cook,  being  "on  the 
ground  and  free,"  had  the  honor  of  commanding  the  ranking  reg- 
iment. 

Colonel  Cook's  regiment  consisted  at  the  time  of  the  Spring- 
field Zouaves,  an  organized  and  drilled  militia  body  with  several 
incipient  companies  that  were  being  enlisted  in  Springfield  and 
vicinity.  This  contest  for  the  honor  of  ranking  regiment  caused  a 
good  deal  of  ill  feeling.  Both  regiments  were  sworn  in  on  the 
same  day.  There  was  a  race  for  headquarters  and  Colonel  Oglesby 
was  first  by  two  hours.  But  Colonel  Cook's  Zouaves  were  on 
the  ground,  uniformed  and  armed,  while  Colonel  Oglesby's  five 
full  companies  were  on  the  cars  en  route.  A  compromise  was 


FIRST  TO  RAISE  REGIMENT  in 

made  by  giving  Cook's  regiment  the  ranking  number,  while  Ogles- 
by  was  made  the  ranking  colonel. 

When  they  arrived  at  Cairo,  Colonel  Oglesby  found  himself 
in  command  of  a  regiment  of  old  men,  young  men  and  boys,  most 
of  whom  were  friends  and  acquaintances  to  whom  he  had  al- 
ways been  "Dick,"  and  they  "Tom"  and  "Harry."  There  was 
very  little  understanding  of  discipline  or  of  military  etiquette.  The 
old  men  freely  offered  him  advice,  the  young  men  companionship 
and  the  boys,  jokes,  and  he  felt  like  a  prophet  without  honor  in 
his  own  place. 

One  morning  after  regimental  drill,  Oglesby  concluded  to 
make  a  little  speech  instructing  his  men  in  the  position  and  duties 
of  soldiers. 

"I  have  no  doubt,"  he  said,  "that  most  of  you  think  that  you 
know  as  much  about  how  this  thing  should  be  run  as  I  do,  and  I 
expect  that  you  do,  but  you  have  chosen  me  and  I  have  been  com- 
missioned by  the  governor  to  run  it,  and  I  am  going  to  do  it  to  the 
best  of  my  abilities,  so  help  me  God !  You  are  no  longer  mere 
men ;  you  are  soldiers.  Your  uniform  marks  you  as  part  of  the 
United  States  government  which  you  are  sworn  to  honor  and  re- 
spect. Your  captain's  uniform  marks  him  as  your  superior,  even 
though  he  may  have  once  been  your  boot-black.  Your  duty  is  to 
obey  orders  whether  you  think  them  right  or  not.  Your  officers , 
are  to  do  the  thinking." 

This  speech,  made  very  solemnly  and  emphatically,  impressed 
the  men  with  a  new  sense  of  their  position,  and  was  freely  dis- 
cussed at  mess  and  in  camp. 

When  the  colonel  retired  to  his  tent  that  night  he  was  tired 
and  lonesome.  He  doffed  his  coat  and  vest,  put  on  a  pair  of  easy 
carpet  slippers,  and  went  out  of  doors  and,  with  his  hands  behind 
his  back,  paced  up  and  down,  up  and  down,  increasing  the  lap  of 
his  course  at  each  round.  Suddenly  he  heard  the  summons : 

"Halt !  Who  goes  there  ?  Advance  and  give  the  countersign !" 

"Oh,  I'm  not  outside  the  lines !"  the  colonel  answered. 

"Advance  and  give  the  countersign,  whoever  you  are,"  re- 
plied the  sentinel.  "No  one  passes  this  line  without  it." 

"Well,  I'll  be !"    I  believe  I  have  wandered  outside,  but 


ii2  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

you  know  me.  I  have  forgotten  the  password,  but  you  will  let 
me  through.  I  am  Oglesby,  your  colonel." 

"Right  about  face !   march !"   called  the  sentinel. 

"Oh,  Jim,  you  know  me !   What  is  the  use  ?" 

"Well,  sir,  I  think  I  know  you,  but  I  do  not  see  any  uniform, 
and  the  soldier  is  not  to  think  but  to  obey.  Right  about  face ! 
March !" 

And  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  the  colonel,  who  did  the 
thinking,  was  marched  to  the  guard  house  by  the  soldier  who 
obeyed  orders. 

Almost  the  entire  term  for  which  the  Eighth  Illinois  was  en- 
listed was  spent  at  or  near  Cairo  doing  guard  duty.  For  three 
long  weary  months  our  boys  stood  guard  and  drilled  and  waited 
at  Cairo.  Their  term  of  enlistment  had  expired.  Their  wives 
were  at  home  doing  men's  work  that  their  children  might  have 
bread  to  eat.  They  had  enlisted  to  fight;  to  put  down  treason 
and  rebellion ;  and  they  had  drilled  and  stood  guard.  The  over- 
powering enthusiasm  with  which  they  had  rushed  into  the  fray 
had  died  from  inaction.  They  were  disheartened  and  homesick, 
and  they  were  asked  to  re-enlist  for  three  years  more  of  the 
weary  work. 

Colonel  Oglesby  had  suffered  with  his  men.  Naturally  fond 
of  ease  and  luxury,  he  shared  the  fare  and  the  fate  of  enlisted 
men.  His  active  spirit  chafed  under  the  restraint  of  mere  guard 
duty.  But  he  too  had  learned  that  a  soldier's  duty  was  to  obey 
orders  and  let  his  superiors  do  the  thinking.  He  was  anxious 
that  a  more  aggressive  policy  should  be  adopted,  and  had  little 
faith  in  the  loyalty  of  the  border  states. 

Especially  distasteful  to  Oglesby  was  the  necessity  of  enforc- 
ing the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  Kentucky  slave  owners  came  boldly 
into  his  camp  and  demanded  the  arrest  of  their  "runaway  nig- 
gers," and  when  he  was  obliged  by  military  rule  to  order  a  fugi- 
tive slave  arrested,  conducted  outside  the  lines  and  turned  over  to 
his  master  by  a  corporal's  guard  he  said,  "It  was  the  bitterest  pill 
that  I  ever  swallowed ;  I  actually  shed  tears." 


CHAPTER  V. 
GENERAL  AND  GOVERNOR. 

The  Eighth  regiment  was  mustered  out  in  July,  1861,  but  the 
majority  of  the  men  re-enlisted  at  once,  to  serve  "three  years,  or 
for  the  war."  Colonel  Oglesby  continued  in  command  until  April 
i,  1862,  when  he  was  promoted  to  brigadier  general,  in  recogni- 
tion of  the  valuable  service  in  that  famous  battle  of  Fort  Donel- 
son,  where  so  many  Macon  county  soldiers  fell. 

At  the  bloody  battle  of  Corinth,  while  leading  a  brave  charge, 
he  was  shot  through  the  left  lung  by  an  ounce  ball.  He,  with 
General  Heckelman,  who  an  hour  before  had  been  wounded  by 
a  shell,  were  carried  to  a  hotel  in  Corinth,  where  a  consultation  of 
surgeons  pronounced  them  both  mortally  wounded. 

In  less  than  an  hour  after  they  were  taken  to  the  hotel,  the 
rebels  had  penetrated  to  within  a  few  yards  of  their  refuge,  and 
they  were  hastily  placed  in  an  ambulance  and  taken  to  Sulphur 
Springs,  two  miles  in  the  rear.  General  Heckelman  died  an 
hour  after  their  arrival  there. 

The  next  morning  Oglesby,  who  was  thought  to  be  dying,  was 
returned  to  Corinth  and  placed  in  a  private  house.  At  General 
Oglesby's  request,  General  Grant  detailed  Dr.  S.  T.  Trowbridge. 
who  had  been  surgeon  of  the  Eighth  regiment  and  for  years  a 
warm  friend  of  Oglesby,  to  go  to  the  latter's  bedside  and  take 
charge  of  the  case. 

Upon  Dr.  Trowbridge's  arrival  he  found  "all  hope  aban- 
doned," and  no  treatment  ordered  except  to  "lessen  the  pain." 
But  the  doctor,  knowing  his  patient  as  a  man  of  splendid  physical 
development,  a  strong  will  and  a  hopeful  nature,  determined  to 
fight  death  while  there  was  a  breath  of  life.  He  spoke  a  few  en- 
couraging words  to  his  friend  and  together  they  entered  into  a 
compact  to  cheat  death  of  its  victim. 

Mrs.  Oglesby,  with  her  father,  Mrs.  Prather,  his  sister  and 
Mr.  Peddecord,  his  brother-in-law,  went  immediately  to  Corinth, 


ii4  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

where  for  weeks  the  brave  fight  held  them  in  suspense.  Dr. 
Trowbridge,  believing  it  possible  to  move  his  patient,  and  thinking 
that  a  change  of  conditions  and  surroundings  would  be  helpful, 
asked  General  Grant  for  an  order  to  remove  Mr.  Oglesby  to  his 
home.  The  request  was  granted  with  an  additional  order  for 
Dr.  Trowbridge  to  accompany  him  and  remain  as  long  as  his 
services  would  benefit  the  patient.  A  special  car  was  assigned 
the  party,  Dr.  Trowbridge' s  inventive  genius  prepared  a  semi- 
recumbent  seat  which  was  swung  in  the  car,  and  the  trip  was 
made  in  comparative  comfort. 

General  Oglesby's  return  to  health  was  slow  and  painful,  and 
was  one  of  those  miracles  that  are  sometimes  wrought  by  the  in- 
domitable will  power  of  a  strong  nature  assisted  by  a  skillful 
physician.  He  used  often  to  say  that  he  was  one  of  the  few 
men  who  were  permitted  to  read  their  own  obituaries.  "My  eulo- 
gists," said  he,  "have  set  the  standard  so  high  that  it  is  going  to 
be  hard  for  me  to  live  a  life  that  will  not  disgrace  my  past." 

He  had  only  partly  recovered  when  in  November,  1862,  he 
was  commissioned  major  general,  in  recognition  of  his  valiant 
services,  and  in  the  spring  of  1863,  was  assigned  to  the  Sixteenth 
army  corps.  The  bullet  which  had  laid  him  low  at  Corinth  had 
never  been  removed  and  he  suffered  constant  pain  from  its  pres- 
ence, and,  fearing  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  perform  the  ar- 
duous duties  of  his  position,  he  resigned  his  command  in  July, 
1863.  But  General  Grant  refused  to  accept  the  resignation  and 
he  was  detailed  to  court  martial  duty  in  Washington,  where  he 
remained  until  May,  1864,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  the  Repub- 
lican nomination  for  governor. 

President  Lincoln  and  General  Grant  no  longer  refused  to  ac- 
cept his  resignation  from  the  army.  His  forceful  eloquence 
could  be  made  an  effective  weapon  in  the  war  with  treason,  and 
the  time  had  come  when  a  victory  at  the  polls  was  of  more  im- 
portance than  on  the  field  of  battle. 

Two  years  before,  a  complete  revolution  in  the  ballot  of  Illi- 
nois had  placed  the  Democratic  party  in  power.  The  absence 
from  the  state  of  135,440  loyal  soldiers,  two-thirds  of  whom 
would  have  voted  to  sustain  the  administration,  had  given  the 


GENERAL  AND  GOVERNOR  115 

secession  element  an  opportunity  to  revive  old  party  lines.  The 
leaders  of  the  Democrats,  hoping  to  regain  influence  and  power, 
took  advantage  of  the  general  "repugnance  to  the  threatened 
draft,  the  continued  and  increasing  depreciation  of  the  state  cur- 
rency, the  low  wages  paid  the  soldiers,  the  president's  proposition 
of  compensated  emancipation,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  outcome 
of  the  war/'  to  arraign  the  discontent  of  a  disappointed  people  in 
opposition  to  the  Union  party.  The  result  was  a  Democratic  vic- 
tory, the  majority  vote  on  state  officers  being  over  70,000. 

While  the  great  body  of  the  Democratic  party  was  opposed 
to  secession,  and  adhered  to  its  organization  only  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  political  results,  there  was  an  element  that  sympa- 
thized with  the  south,  who  were  highly  elated  by  the  result  of  the 
election.  They  no  longer  feared  to  show  their  colors.  Their 
sympathy  with  secession  was  bold  and  outspoken.  The  Chicago 
Times,  the  Springfield  Register  and  other  so  called  Democratic 
papers  became  so  treasonable  in  their  utterances  that  they  were 
suppressed  as  a  military  necessity.  The  bitterness  of  political 
opposition  to  the  conduct  of  the  war  centered  itself  in  personal 
vituperation  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  friends  of  the  administration 
found  themselves  occupied  in  defending  the  president.  A  kind 
of  apologetic  spirit  pervaded  the  utterances  of  the  press.  Where 
there  was  not  open  opposition  to  this  policy,  Lincoln  received 
only  half  hearted  support  from  his  friends. 

There  was  an  election  coming  on  and  the  times  were  critical. 
It  was  important  that  some  one  who  knew  and  believed  in  Mr. 
Lincoln  should  be  called  to  his  support,  and  he  himself  selected 
General  Oglesby  as  the  man.  Largely  through  Mr.  Lincoln's  in- 
fluence, and  much  to  his  delight,  Oglesby  was  nominated  for 
governor  of  Illinois. 

Forgetting  his  debilitated  condition,  ignoring  his  still  painful 
wound,  Oglesby  sprang  into  the  arena  of  debate,  and  "made 
things  lively."  He  entered  into  no  glove  contests,  but  with  bare 
hands  administered  effective  punishment.  He  made  no  apolo- 
gies for  the  president's  policies,  but  boldly  and  almost  propheti- 
cally declared  that  the  time  would  come  when  the  almost  God- 
like wisdom,  foresight  and  forbearance  of  the  misunderstood 


ii6  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

Lincoln  would  place  him  in  the  calendar  of  saints  and  all  the 
"world  would  bow  down  and  worship  him." 

"His  strong  feeling  and  resonant  voice,  his  homely  metaphors 
and  vigorous  denunciations,  his  humorous  sallies,  forcible  rea- 
soning and  his  passionate  manner,"  roused  his  hearers  to  almost 
hysterical  enthusiasm.  "His  mobile  features,  his  clean  shaven  ex- 
pressive face  and  his  bluff  hearty  western  manner  gave  his  ap- 
pearance a  charm  which  was  brightened  by  a  physique  of  sym- 
metrical and  commanding  proportions." 

The  political  campaign  of  1864  will  long  be  remembered  for 
its  bitterness,  much  of  which  was  contributed  by  General  Ogles- 
by.  He  denounced  the  Copperheads,  as  northern  sympathizers 
of  the  south  were  called,  with  a  savage  fierceness  that  drove 
them  to  fury,  while  political  critics  and  military  fault  finders, 
who  were  free  with  their  advice  and  denunciations  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's "temporizings,"  were  held  up  to  execration  with  hardly  less 
bitterness  and  fiery  invective. 

The  Republican  ticket  was  successful  in  Illinois  by  a  majority 
of  30,736,  showing  an  increase  in  the  Republican  vote  over  1862 
of  60,000,  not  including  the  soldiers'  vote.  And  Oglesby  was 
elected  Governor  of  Illinois. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
FROM  DECATUR  TO  GREAT  DUTIES. 

Citizens  of  Decatur  had  resolved  to  make  the  inauguration  of 
Governor  Oglesby  a  gala  occasion.  Sherman's  triumphant  army 
had  "marched  through  Georgia  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea."  Thomas 
had  broken  the  backbone  of  the  rebellion  in  the  west,  victory  after 
victory  had  crowned  the  Union  arms,  and  people  felt  that  they 
had  a  right  for  the  first  time  in  four  years  to  rejoice  and  be  ex- 
ceedingly glad.  Large  delegations,  irrespective  of  party,  were 
going  to  Springfield  to  do  homage  to  the  man  who  had  honored 
Decatur.  Society  was  agog  with  preparations  for  the  Inaugural 
Ball.  Suddenly,  like  a  thunderbolt  from  a  clear  sky,  came  the 
news  that  little  five-year-old  "Dickey"  Oglesby  was  dying  with 
diphtheria. 

For  a  week  the  stricken  father  wrestled  in  agony,  hoping 
against  hope  that  his  child  would  live.  For  the  first  time  in  his 
life  he  had,  a  few  days  before,  punished  the  child  for  disobe- 
dience, and  now  remorse  took  hold  of  him  and  with  prayers  and 
tears  he  pleaded  with  the  little  unconscious  sufferer  for  pardon. 
The  boy  died  the  day  before  the  day  set  for  inauguration  of  the 
governor. 

The  excitement  of  the  campaign,  the  jubilation  over  Union 
victories  and  the  preparation  for  entering  upon  his  new  duties, 
added  to  the  suffering  from  his  unhealed  wound,  had  strained  his 
powers  of  endurance  to  the  limit  of  his  strength,  and  now  this 
fearful  blow  had  completely  unmanned  him.  For  a  few  days  his 
friends  and  physicians  entertained  grave  fears  for  his  reason. 
Those  who  knew  him  best  knew  that  the  call  of  duty  was  the  only 
rallying  power  that  would  save  him,  and  urged  that  the  postponed 
inauguration  should  take  place  as  soon  as  possible.  The  oath  of 
office  was  quietly  administered  to  Governor  Oglesby  and  the  oth- 
er state  officers  on  January  17,  1865. 


117 


n8  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

The  thirteenth  amendment  to  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  which  declares  that  "Slavery  and  involuntary  servitude, 
except  for  the  punishment  of  crime,  is  forever  prohibited  in  the 
United  States  and  its  territories,"  was  at  that  time  the  engrossing 
topic  of  public  interest.  It  was  known  that  Mr.  Lincoln  believed 
its  passage  to  be  of  vital  importance  to  the  final  suppression  of 
the  rebellion,  but  there  were  many  timid  souls  who  feared  that  it 
would  inflame  the  border  states,  still  nominally  loyal,  and  force 
them  into  open  rebellion.  Not  so,  thought  Governor  Oglesby. 
The  keynote  of  his  patriotic  inaugural  address  is  found  in  one  of 
the  opening  sentences : 

"With  our  eyes  open  and  our  hearts  full  of  devotion  to  the 
flag  of  our  country,  we  declare  before  all  the  world  that  the  re- 
bellion and  human  slavery  shall  fall  and  perish  together." 

In  discussing  the  much  mooted  question  of  what  is  to  become 
of  the  negro  when  he  is  free,  he  said : 

"It  might  be  better  asked  what  may  not  become  of  him.  He 
can  labor,  he  can  fight,  he  can  learn,  improve,  aspire,  and,  if  after 
we  shall  have  tried  as  long  to  make  him  a  useful  man  as  we 
have  tried  to  keep  him  a  degraded  slave,  we  shall  fail  and  he 
shall  fail,  there  will  be  time  enough  left  to  solve  this  persistent 
question.  If  there  were  no  higher  motive  for  emancipation,  I 
would  still  fervently  advocate  it  as  a  punishment  to  traitors  for 
the  crime  of  treason." 

On  the  thirty-first  day  of  January,  1865,  the  congress  of  the 
United  States  passed  the  thirteenth  amendment  to  the  constitu- 
tion. Senator  Trumbull  immediately  telegraphed  the  fact  to 
Governor  Oglesby,  who  at  once  sent  a  message  to  the  legislature 
in  which  he  said,  "Let  Illinois  be  the  first  state  in  the  Union  to 
ratify,  by  act  of  her  legislature,  the  proposed  amendment.  It  is 
just,  it  is  humane,  it  is  right,  and  this  is  a  fit  occasion  to  speak 
out  to  the  world  upon  a  question  of  such  magnitude,  and  the 
whole  civilized  world  will  joyously  ratify  the  deed." 

Upon  receipt  of  this  message,  the  senate  suspended  the  rules 
and  a  joint  resolution  for  ratification  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of 
18  to  6,  several  Democrats  not  voting.  The  house  of  representa- 
tives concurred  by  a  vote  of  48  to  28,  and  thus  it  came  about  that 


FROM  DECATUR  TO  GREAT  DUTIES  119 

Illinois  was  the  first  state  in  the  Union  to  give  its  sanction  to  the 
act  which  secured  the  constitutional  abolition  of  slavery.  Mr. 
Oglesby  had  the  satisfaction  of  telegraphing  to  Mr.  Lincoln  the 
glad  news  that  "Illinois  has  ratified  the  constitutional  amendment 
on  the  same  day  that  it  was  passed  by  congress." 

The  twenty-fourth  general  assembly  adjourned  on  February 
1 6,  after  harmoniously  passing  many  diverse  and  far  reaching 
laws. 

Under  the  stimulus  of  congenial  work  and  the  cheering  news 
of  the  fall  of  Richmond  and  the  collapse  of  the  Confederacy, 
Governor  Oglesby  rapidly  regained  his  health  and  mental  poise. 

President  Lincoln,  who  had  dictated  the  humane  terms  of 
the  surrender  of  Lee's  army,  was  very  anxious  that  a  like  merci- 
ful policy  should  govern  the  reconstruction  of  the  Union.  His 
theory  was  that  every  state  was  still,  and  always  had  been,  an  in- 
tegral part  of  the  Union.  That  we  are  a  nation,  one  and  indivisi- 
ble, and  that  the  prodigal  sons,  who  had  wondered  from  home 
and  fed  on  husks,  should  be  received  with  open  arms  and  fed  on 
a  fatted  calf ;  provided  that  they  endorse  the  new  rules  and  fam- 
ily regulations,  that  had  been  established  while  they  were  wan- 
derers. 

Now  there  was  a  goodly  number  of  elder  brothers  who  were 
angry  and  would  not  consent  to  the  feast,  therefore  Father  Abra- 
ham called  them  together  to  entreat  them.  Governor  Oglesby 
responded  to  the  call  and  arrived  in  Washington  on  that  fatal 
Good  Friday  that  sounded  the  death  knell  of  a  nation's  hope  of  a 
peaceful  and  happy  reunion  of  the  divided  family. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  Washington,  the  governor  called  as  soon 
as  possible  at  the  White  House.  He  arrived  just  as  the  President 
and  Mrs.  Lincoln  were  entering  their  carriage  for  a  drive.  He 
declined  an  invitation  to  drive  with  them.  Mrs.  Lincoln  urged 
him  to  go  to  the  theater  with  them  that  night,  but  Governor  Og- 
lesby declined  on  account  of  the  fatigue  of  his  journey.  He  made 
an  appointment  to  meet  the  president  the  next  morning  and  bade 
him  goodbye  for  the  last  time  in  life. 

Governor  Oglesby  was  in  bed  at  his  hotel  when  summoned  to 


I2O  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

the  death  bed  of  his  chief.    Words  fail  to  tell  the  tragic  story  of 
his  grief. 

"The  heavens  were  hung  in  black, 
The  earth  put  mourning  on." 

The  somber  shadow  of  grief  which  overcast  the  land  at  Lin- 
coln's death  did  not  begin  to  lift  until  after  continuous  and  im- 
posing funeral  ceremonies  along  the  entire  route  from  Washing- 
ton to  Springfield  had  given  the  people  of  the  country  a  chance 
to  honor  and  mourn  the  distinguished  dead. 

On  May  u,  Governor  Oglesby  was  appointed  the  president  of 
an  association  organized  to  erect  a  suitable  monument  to  the 
memory  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Two  hundred  thousand  dollars  was 
raised  by  contributions  from  states  and  territories  by  soldiers 
and  sailors,  Sunday  school  scholars,  churches,  benevolent  socie- 
ties and  individual  admirers  of  the  martyred  president.  The 
monument  was  completed  and  dedicated  October  15,  1874,  in  the 
presence  of  a  distinguished  concourse  of  men  of  all  nations. 
General  John  M.  Palmer  presided  and  Governor  Oglesby  deliv- 
ered the  oration. 

Many  laws  of  importance  were  enacted  during  Governor  Og- 
lesby's  administration.  Among  them  was  the  location  of  the  Illi- 
nois Agricultural  and  Industrial  college  at  Urbana,  and  the  appro- 
priation of  $450,000  for  beginning  the  erection  of  a  $3,000,000 
state  house  at  Springfield. 

Decatur  came  to  the  front  on  the  state  house  question  by  an 
offer  to  donate  a  beautiful  site,  (Johns  Hill),  with  ten  acres  of 
land  and  $1,000,000  in  cash  for  the  location  of  the  capital  in  that 
city.  But  munificent  as  was  the  offer,  it  failed  to  make  any  de- 
cided impression  on  the  legislative  mind,  and  the  bill  for  erecting 
a  new  state  house  at  Springfield  became  a  law  February  25,  1867. 

The  second  and  third  years  of  Governor  Oglesby's  adminis- 
tration were  enlivened  by  many  agreeable  social  functions  and 
the  governor's  mansion  resumed  its  position  as  the  seat  of  gaiety 
and  hospitality,  in  which  Decatur  took  prominent  part.  Mrs.  Og- 
lesby surrounded  herself  with  an  attractive  band  of  young  ladies. 
The  governor  was  always  a  charming  host. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
GOVERNOR  AND  SENATOR. 

The  last  year  of  Governor  Oglesby's  term  of  office  was  sad- 
dened by  the  long  illness  and  death  of  his  wife.  After  the  birth 
of  her  baby  boy,  Robert,  she  was  a  suffering  invalid  for  months 
during  which  time  her  loving  husband  devoted  himself  to  her 
care,  never  leaving  her  for  an  hour  unless  duty  called. 

Mrs.  Anna  Oglesby  died  in  the  governor's  mansion  at  Spring- 
field, on  the  i6th  day  of  June,  1868,  and  was  brought  to  Decatur, 
where  she  rests  in  Greenwood  cemetery  beside  her  children. 

When  Governor  Oglesby  retired  from  office  he  returned  to 
Decatur  where  for  four  years  he  devoted  himself  to  the  tender 
care  of  his  motherless  children  and  to  the  recuperation  of  his 
finances,  which  had  suffered  sadly  during  the  long  years  of  his 
official  life. 

During  the  four  years  of  his  retirement,  the  Republican  par- 
ty, which  had  been  a  unit  only  on  the  one  absorbing  question  of 
slavery,  became  a  seething  cauldron  of  discordant  elements.  The 
froth,  Socialism,  Greenbackism,  Know  Nothingism  and  Granger- 
ism,  had  boiled  over  and  out.  There  remained  two  strong  intel- 
ligent factions  that  differed  greatly  on  the  important  issues  of  the 
day.  Reconstruction,  negro  suffrage,  militaryism,  civil  service, 
and  finally,  the  renomination  of  General  Grant,  were  the  causes 
of  a  widespread  revolt  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party.  Such 
prominent,  original  Republicans  as  Senator  Trumbull,  Governor 
Palmer,  Judge  David  Davis,  Leonard  Swett  and  John  Wentworth 
were  among  the  insurgents. 

All  the  "sore  heads"  and  odds  and  ends  of  every  party  or 
clique  in  the  country  opposed  to  General  Grant  and  the  regular 
Republicans,  met  in  convention  at  Cincinnati  on  May  I,  1872, 
and  nominated  for  president,  Horace  Greeley,  who  had  always 
been  the  most  powerful  unflinching  and  uncompromising  foe  of 
the  Democratic  party. 

121 


122  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

The  roaring  farce  entitled,  "The  Nomination  of  Horace  Gree- 
ley  for  President  of  the  United  States  by  the  Democratic  Party," 
was  staged  at  Baltimore  on  July  9,  1872.  Meanwhile  the  regular 
Republicans,  apprehensive  of  the  effect  of  a  secession  from  their 
ranks  so  extensive  and  influential,  were  seeking  for  a  leader  of 
their  forlorn  hope. 

The  prestige,  magnetism  and  eloquence  of  Oglesby  suggested 
him  as  the  only  man  who  could  lead  them  out  of  the  wilderness. 
An  influential  delegation,  bearing  a  petition  signed  by  twenty-two 
members  of  the  general  assembly  and  other  prominent  citizens, 
came  to  Decatur  and  persuaded  him,  much  against  his  will,  to  ac- 
cept a  second  nomination  for  governor. 

As  my  story  is  supposed  to  close  with  the  end  of  the  rebellion, 
I  will  give  only  a  synopsis  of  the  remainder  of  Governor  Ogles- 
by's  remarkable  career. 

The  campaign  which  followed  was  probably  the  most  bitter 
in  the  history  of  American  politics.  Governor  Oglesby  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  more  than  40,000  over  his  opponent,  Gus- 
tavus  Koerner,  whose  popularity  with  the  Germans,  it  was  sup- 
posed, would  prove  a  winning  factor  for  the  Democrats.  He 
was  inaugurated  January  13,  1873,  an^  delivered  an  inaugural 
address  "which  gained  the  approving  smiles  of  his  political 
friends." 

Eight  days  after  his  inauguration,  he  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  senate  by  the  Twenty-eighth  general  assembly  of 
Illinois.  Soon  after  his  election  to  the  senate,  Mr.  Oglesby  was 
married  to  Mrs.  Emma  Gillett  Keys,  a  very  beautiful  woman 
and  a  daughter  of  John  D.  Gillett,  the  Logan  county  cattle  king. 

During  his  six  years  in  the  senate  he  spent  the  greater  por- 
tion of  his  time  in  Washington,  though  he  kept  his  Decatur  home 
open.  The  old  house  where  he  had  lived  for  many  years,  be- 
came one  wing  of  a  very  handsome  new  home  which  he  built  and 
occupied  after  his  retirement  from  official  life.  Four  of  his  chil- 
dren were  born  in  the  new  house,  all  of  whom  are  still  living. 
Richard  J.  Oglesby  and  Miss  Felicite  Oglesby  now  live  in  Rome, 
Italy,  with  their  mother.  John  is  at  present  Lieutenant  Governor 
of  Illinois,  and  Jasper  lives  at  Oglehurst,  Logan  county. 


GOVERNOR  AND  SENATOR  123 

For  fourteen  years  Senator  Oglesby  lived  in  retirement  from 
office,  but  not  from  public  life,  for  his  influence  and  his  eloquence 
were  always  at  the  service  of  his  party. 

In  1884,  he  was  nominated  and  elected,  for  the  third  time,  to 
the  office  of  governor  of  Illinois.  An  interval  of  twenty  years 
had  elapsed  between  his  first  and  last  nominations,  which  was  "a 
political  triumph  as  creditable  to  the  party  to  which  he  had  al- 
ways been  steadfast,  as  it  was  personally  gratifying  to  him.  No 
other  similar  instance  of  gubernatorial  preferment  can  be  found 
in  the  history  of  the  states." 

The  record  of  his  first  term  had  been  without  a  stain ;  his 
second  term  ended  in  his  election  to  a  higher  office.  For  fourteen 
years  he  had  given  his  services  to  his  party  for  the  advancement 
of  other  candidates.  "It  was  asserted  in  some  quarters  that  he 
had  been  relegated  to  the  category  of  'back  numbers/  but  when 
the  Republican  convention  of  1884  was  called,  remembering  the 
telling  blows  he  had  dealt  the  opposition  in  previous  campaigns, 
all  eyes  were  turned  to  the  favorite  of  1864,  who  had  never  dis- 
appointed expectations."  He  was  elected  over  Carter  Harrison, 
the  Democratic  nominee,  by  a  majority  of  15,000. 

Governor  Oglesby  retired  from  his  third  term  as  governor  of 
Illinois  on  January  14,  1889.  No  better  commentary  on  his  ad- 
ministration can  be  made  than  that  uttered  by  his  successor,  Gov- 
ernor Fifer,  in  his  inaugural  address : 

For  more  than  a  third  of  a  century,  Richard  Oglesby  has  been  promi- 
nent in  the  civic  and  military  history  of  Illinois.  In  all  that  time  no  call 
of  patriotic  duty  remained  unheeded ;  no  cause,  embracing  the  public  weal, 
found  him  a  laggard.  In  war  his  heroic  breast  stood  a  bulwark  between 
the  great  Republic  and  her  enemies.  To  cement  the  union  of  the  Fathers 
he  shed  his  blood.  As  a  member  of  the  national  senate,  and  as  governor 
of  this  commonwealth,  to  which  office  he  has  received  the  rare  compliment 
of  three  elections,  he  proved  himself  well  able,  by  wise  statesmanship,  to 
preserve  in  council  what  his  intrepid  valor  helped  him  to  win  in  the  field. 

Strong  in  attachment  to  party,  and  living  in  times  of  strife,  his  ca- 
reer yet  exemplifies  the  maxim  that  "He  serves  his  party  best  who  serves 
his  country  best."  Retiring  voluntarily  from  the  scenes  of  his  public  la- 
bors and  triumphs,  he  goes  from  us  crowned  with  honor,  followed  by  the 
gratitude  and  affection  of  his  fellow  citizens. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
A  TASK  UNFINISHED  FOR  DECATUR 

When  Mr.  Oglesby  left  the  Governor's  mansion  in  Springfield 
on  January  i,  1889,  circumstances  beyond  his  control  compelled 
him  to  leave  his  loved  Decatur  home  and  take  up  his  residence  in 
Logan  county,  where  he  led  for  ten  years  a  life  of  comparative 
retirement  at  Oglehurst,  his  new  home. 

He  was  only  sixty-four  years  old,  but  had  lived  at  a  time  when 
one  year  counts  as  a  score  in  an  ordinary  life.  He  had  carried  in 
his  body  for  twenty-seven  years  the  bullet  fired  at  Corinth,  and 
for  twenty-seven  years  had  never  ceased  to  suffer  from  the 
wound.  He  was  an  old  man,  old  before  his  time  through  service 
and  through  suffering. 

Sometimes  during  these  last  ten  years  of  his  life  upon  some 
inspiring  occasion,  he  would  break  forth  into  a  speech  of  such 
surpassing  eloquence  as  seemed  almost  inspired.  On  the  night 
of  September  9,  1894,  he  made  one  of  these  impromptu  speeches 
at  a  "Harvest  Home"  banquet,  given  by  the  famous  Fellowship 
Club  of  Chicago.  That  speech  was  not  stenographically  reported, 
but  Volney  W.  Foster,  who  was  present,  whose  memory  was  con- 
sidered phenomenal,  was  so  impressed  that  later  he  volunteered 
to  write  the  talk  out  from  memory.  His  version  was  submitted 
to  Franklin  Head  and  others  who  were  present,  and  was  pro- 
nounced "verbatim  et  literatum."  I  quote  from  a  copy  of  the 
oration  as  published  and  sent,  in  memoriam,  to  some  of  her 
friends  by  Mrs.  Oglesby. 

Ex-Governor  Oglesby  was  seated  at  the  speakers'  table  at  the 
south  end  of  the  room,  between  Joseph  Jefferson  and  Conan 
Doyle,  with  whom  he  had  been  in  earnest  conversation  up  to  the 
moment  of  the  call  of  his  name.  The  toastmaster  was  Mr. 
Franklin  H.  Head,  and  the  toast  that  he  gave  to  each  speaker 
was  "What  I  Know  About  Farming." 

The  Governor  arose  slowly  and  was  seemingly  waiting  for 

124 


A  TASK  UNFINISHED  FOR  DECATUR  125 

an  inspiration.  He  looked  deliberately  upon  the  harvest  decora- 
tions of  the  room  and  finally  his  eyes  seemed  to  rest  upon  the 
magnificent  stocks  of  corn  that  adorned  the  walls.  He  then  slow- 
ly and  impressively  .said: 

The  corn,  the  corn,  the  corn  !  That  in  its  first  beginning  and  its  growth 
has  furnished  aptest  illustration  of  the  tragic  announcement  of  the  chieftest 
hope  of  man.  If  he  die,  he  shall  surely  live  again.  Planted  in  the  friendly 
but  somber  bosom  of  the  mother  earth  it  dies.  Yea,  it  dies  the  second  death, 
surrendering  up  each  trace  of  form  and  earthly  shape  until  the  outward 
tide  is  stopped  by  the  reacting  vital  germ  which,  breaking  all  the  bonds  and 
cerements  of  its  sad  decline,  comes  bounding,  laughing  into  life  and  light, 
the  fittest  of  all  the  symbols  that  make  certain  promise  of  the  fate  of  man. 

And  so  it  died  and  then  it  lived  again.  And  so  my  people  died.  By 
some  unknown,  uncertain  and  unfriendly  fate,  I  found  myself  making  my 
first  journey  into  life  from  conditions  as  lowly  as  these  surrounding  that 
awakening,  dying,  living  infant  germ.  It  was  in  those  days  when  I,  a 
simple  boy  had  wandered  from  Indiana  to  Springfield,  that  I  there  met  the 
father  of  this  good  man  (Joseph  Jefferson),  whose  kind  and  gentle  words 
to  me  were  as  water  to  a  thirsty  soul,  as  the  shadow  of  a  rock  to  a  weary 
man.  I  loved  his  father  then,  I  love  the  son  now.  Two  full  generations 
have  been  taught  by  his  gentleness  and  smiles,  and  tears  have  quickly  an- 
swered to  the  command  of  his  artistic  mind.  Long  may  he  live  to  make  us 
laugh  and  cry,  and  cry  and  laugh  by  turns  as  he  may  choose  to  move  us. 

But  now  again  my  mind  turns  to  the  glorious  corn.  See  it !  Look  on ' 
its  ripening  waving  field.  See  how  it  wears  a  crown,  prouder  than  monarch 
ever  wore,  sometimes  jauntily  and  sometimes,  after  the  storm,  the  digni- 
fied survivors  of  the  tempest  seem  to  view  a  field  of  slaughter  and  to  pity  a 
fallen  foe.  And  see  the  pendant  caskets  of  the  corn  field  with  the  wine  of 
life  and  see  the  silken  fringes  that  set  a  form  for  fashion  and  for  art. 

And  now  the  evening  comes  and  something  of  a  time  to  rest  and  listen. 
The  scudding  clouds  conceal  the  half  and  then  reveal  the  whole  of  the 
moonlit  beauty  of  the  night,  and  then  the  gentle  winds  make  heavenly  har- 
monies on  a  thousand  harps  that  hang  upon  the  borders  and  the  edges  and 
the  middle  of  the  field  of  ripening  corn  until  my  very  heart  seems  to  beat 
responsive  to  the  rising  and  the  falling  of  the  long  melodious  refrain.  The 
melancholy  clouds  sometimes  make  shadows  on  the  field  and  hide  its  au- 
reate wealth  and  now  they  move  and  slowly  into  sight  there  comes  the  gold- 
en glow  of  promise  for  an  industrious  land.  Glorious  corn,  that  more  than 
all  the  sisters  of  the  field,  wears  tropic  garments.  Nor  on  the  shore  of 
Nilus  or  of  Ind  does  nature  dress  her  forms  more  splendidly. 

My  God,  to  live  again  that  time  when  for  me  half  the  world  was  good 
and  the  other  half  unknown !  And  now  again,  the  corn,  that  in  its  kernel 
holds  the  strength  that  shall  (in  the  body  of  the  man  refreshed)  subdue  the 
forest  and  compel  response  from  every  stubborn  field,  or,  shining  in  the  eye 
of  beauty,  make  blossoms  of  her  cheeks  and  jewels  of  her  lips  and  thus 
make  for  man  the  greatest  inspiration  to  well  doing,  the  hope  of  comnan- 
ionship  of  that  sacred,  warm  and  well-embodied  soul,  a  woman. 

Aye,  the  corn,  the  royal  corn,  within  whose  yellow  heart  there  is  of 
health  and  strength  for  all  the  nations.  The  corn  triumphant,  that  with  the 
aid  of  man  hath  made  victorious  procession  across  the  tufted  plain  and 
laid  foundation  for  the  social  excellence  that  is  and  is  to  be.  This  glorious 
plant  transmuted  by  the  alchemy  of  God  sustains  the  warrior  in  battle,  the 


126  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY 

poet  in  song,  and  strengthens  everywhere  the  thousand  arms  that  work  the 
purposes  of  life. 

Oh,  that  I  had  the  voice  of  song  or  skill  to  translate  into  tones  the  har- 
monies, the  symphonies  and  oratorios  that  roll  across  my  soul,  when  stand- 
ing sometimes  by  day  and  sometimes  by  night  upon  the  borders  of  this 
verdant  sea,  I  note  a  world  of  promise,  and  then  before  one-half  the  year 
is  gone  I  view  its  full  fruition  and  see  its  heaped  gold  await  the  need  of 
man.  Majestic,  fruitful,  wondrous  plant!  Thou  greatest  among  the  mani- 
festations of  the  wisdom  and  love  of  God,  that  may  be  seen  in  all  the  fields 
or  upon  the  hillsides  or  in  the  valleys. 

The  merrymaking  was  hushed,  the  audience  sat  spellbound. 
As  the  orator  reached  the  climax  of  his  oration,  by  common  im- 
pulse the  banqueters  were  brought  to  their  feet  in  almost  awe- 
some adoration  for  the  man.  When  he  closed  and  slowly  took  his 
seat,  there  was  a  moment's  silence  and  then  deafening  cheers 
rang  through  the  room. 

Only  one  who  has  heard  and  seen  Oglesby  in  his  inspired  mo- 
ments can  appreciate  this  "gem  of  literary  brilliancy,  a  classic  in 
thought  and  inspiration." 

On  April  4,  1899,  the  news  was  flashed  to  Decatur  that  Rich- 
ard Oglesby  was  dead.  He  had  been  stricken  with  vertigo  at  his 
home,  had  fallen  and  struck  his  head,  causing  concussion  of  the 
brain.  He  did  not  regain  consciousness  and  died  peacefully  about 
an  hour  after  the  accident. 

I  will  draw  a  veil  over  the  sad  funeral  services  which  occur- 
red at  Oglehurst  and  in  the  Gillett  chapel  at  Elkhart  where  his 
body  lies  buried. 

Governor  Oglesby  was  one  of  those  rare  beings,  a  prophet 
honored  in  life  by  his  own  people,  and  who  in  death  should  not 
be  forgotten. 

There  is,  not  far  from  the  entrance  to  Greenwood  cemetery 
in  Decatur,  a  beautiful  lot,  curbed  with  concrete  dilapidated  and 
neglected,  where  lie  buried  the  wife  of  Oglesby's  youth,  two  of 
his  children  and  his  closest  friend,  Sheridan  Wait,  where  I  hope 


A  TASK  UNFINISHED  FOR  DECATUR  127 

Decatur  will  sometime  honor  herself  by  building  on  the  founda- 
tion, built  by  himself,  a  monument : 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

DECATUR'S  MOST  DISTINGUISHED 
AND  BEST  BELOVED  CITIZEN, 

RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY, 
MAJOR  GENERAL  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  ARMY, 

UNITED  STATES  SENATOR  AND 
THREE  TIMES  GOVERNOR  OF  ILLINOIS. 


FOUR  OTHER  DECATUR  GENERALS 

CHAPTER  IX. 
GENERAL  ISAAC  C.  PUGH. 

General  Isaac  C.  Pugh,  one  of  Decatur's  earliest  settlers  and 
most  prominent  citizens,  was  a  hero  of  three  wars.  His  first  ex- 
perience as  a  soldier  was  when  he  enlisted  April  23,  1832,  for 
service  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  in  James  Johnson's  company  of 
Illinois  militia,  which  was  attached  to  the  Fifth  regiment  of  the 
Illinois  Mounted  Volunteers.  He  was  second  lieutenant  of  his 
company  and  his  term  of  enlistment  was  thirty-five  days.  Though 
the  time  was  short,  it  was  full  of  adventure  and  Mr.  Pugh  came 
out  of  the  war  with  a  bullet  hole  in  his  hat  brim  and  a  captain's 
commission. 

The  recruits  had  armed  themselves,  they  were  without  disci- 
pline and  made  a  rather  sorry  display  of  soldierly  courage.  The 
account  of  the  first  battle  in  which  young  Pugh  participated,  I 
give  in  his  own  words: 

We  were  camped  at  Dixon's  Ferry  waiting  for  provisions,  when  Still- 
man  swore  that  he  could  whip  the  Indians  with  his  biigade  of  275  men  and 
refused  to  wait  for  reinforcements.  So  we  left  Dixon's  Ferry  and  traveled 
north  up  the  river  some  distance  and  went  into  camp. 

Some  time  after,  three  Indians  came  to  the  camp  bearing  a  flag  of 
truce.  Shortly  after  they  came,  some  one  fired  a  gun  and  one  of  the  In- 
dians fell  dead,  the  other  two  escaping.  Why  the  shot  was  fired  I  never 
knew. 

Stillman  ordered  all  to  mount,  which  we  did,  and  started  towards 
Black  Hawk's  camp  at  Sycamore  creek.  We  had  proceeded  but  a  short  dis- 
tance when  we  saw  five  more  Indians  bearing  a  flag  of  truce.  In  place  of 
Stillman  respecting  the  flag  of  truce,  as  I  would  have  done,  he  ordered  a 
charge  on  the  Indians,  who  turned  their  horses  and  fled  toward  Black 
Hawk's  camp.  Two  of  the  Indians  were  shot  and  killed  and  the  others 
were  pursued  by  the  entire  troop  without  any  regard  to  caution. 

The  three  Indians  passed  the  camp  of  Black  Hawk,  who  was  at  that 
time  in  ambush  near  the  road.  A  number  of  the  men  led  by  Stillman,  had 
passed  the  ambush  when  the  Indians  arose,  fired  a  volley,  raised  the  terrible 

128 


GENERAL  ISAAC  C.  PUGH  129 

war  whoop,  and  the  men  never  even  stopped  at  their  camp  to  get  their 
things.    I  didn't  see  any  more  of  Stillman  until  we  got  to  Dixon's  Ferry. 

A  little  after  midnight  one  of  Stillman's  men  came  into  camp,  his 
horse  in  a  lather  of  sweat,  and  said  that  there  were  2,000  Indians  in  the 
battle  and  that  he  was  the  only  one  who  had  escaped  their  bullets  and  toma- 
hawks. Soon  after,  others  came  straggling  in  and  a  little  after  daylight  all 
were  in,  excepting  fifty  whom  we  thought  of  course  had  been  killed.  We 
learned  afterwards  that  a  number  had  not  stopped  running  until  they 
reached  their  homes. 

In  the  Mexican  war  Pugh  went  out  as  captain  of  Company  C, 
Fourth  Illinois,  of  which  R.  J.  Oglesby  was  first  lieutenant.  The 
Fourth  regiment  participated  in  the  capture  of  Vera  Cruz,  and 
three  weeks  later  in  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo.  The  regiment  was 
in  the  front  of  this  battle.  Company  C  had  forty-eight  men  in 
this  fight,  two  of  whom  were  killed  and  ten  wounded.  At  this 
battle  Company  C  had  the  distinction  of  capturing  Santa  Anna's 
carriage  containing  his  cork  leg  and  $25,000  in  silver. 

Isaac  C.  Pugh  commanded  the  regiment  in  this  battle  and 
Robert  Wornick,  of  Blue  Mound,  one  of  the  few  survivors  of  the 
company  and  himself  a  veteran  of  two  wars,  says  that  Colonel 
Pugh's  leading  the  regiment  in  a  charge  at  Cerro  Gordo  was  one 
of  the  most  conspicuous  acts  of  reckless  daring  that  he  ever  knew. 

About  a  month  after  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo  the  enlistment 
of  the  Fourth  regiment  expired  and  the  men  returned  home  by 
way  of  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis. 

Captain  Pugh  returned  to  Decatur  and  to  his  farm  of  eighty 
acres,  north  of  the  city,  all  of  which  is  now  within  the  city  limits. 
His  time  was  divided  between  farming  and  office  holding.  There 
is  probably  no  one  in  the  history  of  Decatur  who  was  so  often 
elected  to  office  by  his  fellow  citizens. 

He  came  here  in  1828,  the  year  Macon  county  was  organized, 
and  was  elected  to  office  within  a  year.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
commissioners  court,  master  in  chancery,  county  assessor,  county 
treasurer,  county  clerk,  member  of  the  general  assembly  of  Illi- 
nois and  postmaster  and  mayor  of  Decatur.  Some  of  these  offices 
he  held  for  several  terms.  According  to  the  county  records,  he 
was  master  in  chancery  and  county  treasurer  at  the  same  time, 
holding  the  former  office  for  a  period  of  seven  years  and  the  latter 
for  four. 


130  FOUR  OTHER  DECATUR  GENERALS 

In  the  Civil  war,  I.  C.  Pugh  entered  the  service  as  captain  of 
Company  A  of  the  Eighth  regiment.  The  date  of  his  enlistment 
was  April  23,  1861.  This  regiment  was  enlisted  for  three  months' 
service,  Colonel  R.  J.  Oglesby  commanding.  It  was  stationed  at 
Cairo,  111.,  till  the  close  of  its  term,  when  it  was  reorganized  for 
three  years.  Pugh  left  the  regiment  and  returned  to  Decatur, 
where  he  organized  the  Forty-first  regiment  of  which  he  was 
appointed  colonel. 

The  Forty-first  was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  April  6 
and  7,  1862.  It  later  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Corinth,  the  battle 
of  Coldwater,  and  the  siege  of  Vicksburg.  The  regiment  was 
finally  consolidated  with  the  Fifty-first.  Colonel  Pugh  was  ad- 
vanced to  the  rank  of  brigadier  general  for  meritorious  conduct 
and  was  mustered  out  of  the  service,  August  20,  1864. 

In  the  three  wars  in  which  General  Pugh  took  part,  it  hap- 
pened that  he  had  a  hand  in  some  of  the  hottest  fighting  that 
marked  each  of  them.  Stillman's  run  in  the  Black  Hawk  war, 
Cerro  Gordo  in  the  Mexican  war  and  Pittsburg  Landing  in  the 
Civil  war  furnished  all  of  the  active  fighting  that  the  most  en- 
thusiastic soldier  would  care  to  see.  In  the  last  two  it  is  authori- 
tatively stated  that  General  Pugh  was  conspicuous  for  his  bravery, 
and  in  the  first  there  is  no  definite  record  except  that  the  officers 
tried  to  stay  the  panic  of  their  men.  In  not  one  of  these  engage- 
ments did  he  get  a  scratch.  In  the  battle  of  Shiloh  the  cape  of  his 
overcoat  was  pierced  by  bullets  and  another  tore  across  his  breast, 
cutt'ng  through  his  clothing  without  touching  him. 

A  permanent  monument  to  General  Pugh  in  Decatur  is  the 
Pugh  school.  Pugh  street  was  named  for  him  because  it  was  the 
road  which  marked  the  southern  boundary  of  General  Pugh's 
farm,  but  that  street's  name  has  lately  been  changed  to  Grand 
avenue.  The  Pugh  school  was  named  in  honor  of  the  former 
distinguished  citizen  of  the  city,  and  it  is  worth  emphasizing  here 
that  it  is  not  the  "Pugh  Street  School,"  but  the  Pugh  School. 

General  Pugh  was  born  in  Christian  county,  Kentucky,  in 
1805,  and  came  to  Decatur  in  1828,  where  he  resided  continuously 
for  forty-six  years.  August  2,  1831,  he  married  Elvira  E.  Gorin, 
a  sister  of  Jerome  Gorin.  Of  their  eleven  children,  five  died  in  in- 


GENERAL  GUSTAVUS  A.  SMITH  131 

fancy.  Three  members  of  General  Pugh's  family  are  still  living, 
Mrs.  Martha  J.  Lowery,  Mrs.  John  Mark,  of  Washington,  D.  C., 
and  William  H.  Pugh,  of  Seattle,  Wash. 

Mrs.  Lowery  was  born  while  her  father  was  in  the  Black 
Hawk  war.  In  her  home  hangs  a  gold  mounted  sword  which  was 
presented  her  father  in  acknowledgement  of  his  distinguished 
serv'ces  in  the  Civil  war,  by  the  members  of  his  regiment.  There 
are  not  many  left  of  the  old  friends  who  admired  and  loved 
General  Pugh,  but  his  name  will  always  be  honored  by  the  people 
of  Decatur. 

GENERAL  GUSTAVUS  A.  SMITH. 

Gustavus  A.  Smith  was  the  youngest  of  three  brothers  who 
^ere  prominent  and  influential  citizens  of  early  Decatur.  Mr. 
Smith  was  a  carriage  maker  and  probably  owned  the  only  manu- 
facturing establishment  in  Decatur  that  exported  any  of  its  pro- 
ducts previous  to  1860. 

Mr.  David  Shellabarger  tells  me  that  in  1858  Mr.  Smith  was 
employing  about  twenty  men,  and  occupying  a  large  frame  build- 
ing on  the  corner  of  West  Main  and  Church  streets  as  a  carriage 
shop.  Part  of  Caldwell's  livery  stable  now  standing  was  the 
blacksmith  shop  of  the  establishment  and  the  old  Methodist 
church  was  used  for  a  finishing  and  drying  room.  Mr.  Shellabar- 
ger says  that  the  carriages  were  "first-class  and  very  handsome." 

He  asked  Mr.  Smith  where  he  found  a  market  for  them. 
"We  can  sell  all  we  can  make  to  rich  planters  down  south  and 
get  good  prices  for  them,"  was  the  reply.  In  1860  Southern  re- 
pudiation of  northern  debts  brought  disaster  to  the  carriage  man- 
ufactury  and  financial  ruin  to  Mr.  Smith. 

On  the  third  day  of  July,  1861,  the  Thirty-first  regiment,  Illi- 
nois infantry,  was  reorganized  in  Decatur  and  on  the  23rd  was 
accepted  by  the  Secretary  of  War  "as  Colonel  G.  A.  Smith's  In- 
dependent Regiment,  Illinois  Volunteers." 

The  regiment  left  Decatur  August  4  and  joined  General  Sigel's 
army  at  Sedalia  on  the  26th.  For  seven  months  they  were  in  al- 


132  FOUR  OTHER  DECATUR  GENERALS 

most  constant  action,  skirmishing  every  day  in  the  endeavor  to 
drive  Price's  rebel  army  out  of  Missouri. 

At  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge  on  March  8,  1862,  Colonel  Smith 
was  severely  wounded  so  he  was  carried  from  the  field  of  battle 
and  reported  as  mortally  injured,  but  his  strong  vitality  and  a 
skillful  surgical  operation  saved  his  life.  His  skull  was  badl> 
crushed  and  trepanning  was  successfully  resorted  to.  A  silver 
plate  about  as  large  as  a  dollar  replaced  the  missing  bone.  He 
was  almost  bald,  and  the  silver  plate  was  very  much  in  evidence 
after  that  in  Decatur,  and  he  was  always  rather  proud  of  being 
called  "old  tin  top"  by  the  boys.  Though  only  eight  months  in 
active  service,  he  had  rendered  such  gallant  service,  that  on  Sep- 
tember 19  President  Lincoln  promoted  him  to  Brigadier  General. 

General  Smith  never  sufficiently  recovered  from  his  wound 
to  go  into  active  service  again,  and  was  discharged  on  September 
22,  1862. 

In  1864  President  Lincoln  appointed  him  internal  revenue  col- 
lector for  New  Mexico  and  he  at  once  removed  with  his  family 
from  Decatur  to  Santa  Fe,  where  he  died  some  years  later. 

Mr.  Henry  Martin  tells  me  that  when  the  Seventh  Illinois  cav- 
alry were  in  the  vicinity  of  Courtland  and  Decatur,  Alabama, 
they  found  all  the  livery  stables  and  many  of  the  planters'  homes 
equipped  with  fine  carriages  and  buggies,  marked  on  the  rear  axle, 
"Gustavus  A.  Smith,  Decatur,  Illinois."  "The  boys  claimed  that 
they  had  never  been  paid  for  and  so  we  confiscated  them,"  said 
Mr.  Martin. 

Though  it  has  been  forty-eight  years  since  General  Smith  left 
Decatur  to  serve  his  country  in  other  fields,  Decatur  claims  him  as 
one  of  the  five  men  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  honored  with  commis- 
sions as  Generals  in  the  United  States  Army. 

GENERAL  JESSE  HINES  MOORE 

General  Moore  was  a  native  of  Illinois,  born  in  St.  Clair  coun- 
ty April  22,  1817.  The  family  seem  to  have  had  a  taste  for  mili- 
tary life,  his  grandfather  having  been  present  at  the  surrender  of 


GENERAL  JESSE  HINES  MOORE  133 

Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  and  his  father  and  two  uncles  doing 
good  service  in  the  war  of  1812. 

General  Moore  was  a  graduate  of  McKendree  College.  He 
taught  school  for  some  years  and  in  1856  was  president  of  Quincy 
College. 

In  1846  he  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Methodist  church  as  a 
member  of  the  Illinois  Conference.  He  was  an  orator  of  marked 
ability  and  was  in  great  demand  for  special  occasions.  Those 
were  the  days  when  a  Methodist  minister  served  only  one  year 
as  a  pastor  of  a  church,  and  Mr.  Moore  formed  a  wide  acquain- 
tance and  acquired  great  popularity  as  a  circuit  preacher.  He 
was  living  in  Decatur  in  1862  and  his  patriotic  addresses  made  him 
a  very  popular  man,  especially  with  the  young  students  in  the 
Methodist  colleges. 

It  was  not  a  very  difficult  matter  for  General  Moore's  friends 
to  convince  him  that  he  could  serve  his  God  and  his  church  better 
as  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  soldiers,  fighting  for  their  country, 
than  as  pastor  of  a  church.  His  wide  acquaintance  in  the  church 
soon  induced  squads  of  volunteers  who  were  enlisting  from  eight 
of  the  neighboring  counties  to  consolidate  under  his  leadership, 
and  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers 
became  known  as  the  Second  Methodist  Regiment,  with  the  Rev. 
Jesse  H.  Moore,  "the  fighting  parson,"  as  colonel. 

Companies  E  and  F  were  enlisted  from  Macon  county.  The 
several  companies  assembled  at  Camp  Butler,  and  having  elected 
their  own  officers,  on  the  26th  day  of  August  elected  their  regi- 
mental officers,  were  mustered  in,  and  received  their  commissions. 

This  regiment  was  one  of  the  few  in  the  army  that  was 
brought  together  by  community  of  interests  and  of  tastes.  They 
were  selected  men,  drawn  together  by  congeniality,  each  company 
having  in  its  composition  much  that  was  common  to  all  the  others. 
In  nationality  it  was  almost  exclusively  American.  They  were 
men  of  education  and  character  and  among  the  best  in  their  sev- 
eral communities. 

The  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  regiment  was  assigned  to  the 
Army  of  Kentucky  and  entered  at  once  on  active  duty.  Their 
first  service  was  in  the  blue  grass  region  of  Kentucky,  where 


134  FOUR  OTHER  DECATUR  GENERALS 

they  were  kept  constantly  on  the  alert,  by  rumors  of  Morgan 
raids. 

It  required  very  tactful  management  of  his  men  by  Colonel 
Moore,  who  was  in  command  of  the  post,  to  keep  the  peace  be- 
tween the  Union  men  whose  slaves  occasionally  escaped  and  re- 
ported within  the  army  lines,  and  his  freedom  loving  soldiers. 
The  owners  of  the  plantations,  who  were  loyal  to  the  government 
as  long  as  their  plantations  were  protected,  and  their  runaway 
slaves  returned  to  them  by  military  authority,  often  became  very 
insulting  and  overbearing  in  their  demands  for  the  right  to  search 
the  camp,  and  sometimes  even  the  officers'  tents,  for  their  "miss- 
ing niggers." 

A  challenge  to  a  duel  resulted  from  one  of  these  encounters. 
Colonel  Moore  settled  the  difficulty  by  putting  the  challenged 
officer  on  duty,  which  precluded  his  absence  from  camp  for  sev- 
eral days,  thus  avoiding  offence  to  either  party. 

Though  Colonel  Moore  was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  he  pre- 
served order  and  the  respect  of  his  men  more  by  tactful  manage- 
ment, than  by  official  authority.  The  ability  he  had  shown  in  the 
management  of  young  people  in  college  was  now  turned  to  good 
account  in  the  training  of  men  for  military  service.  His  courage 
and  ability  were  shown  and  recognized  in  every  battle  and  his 
faithfulness  to  duty  and  untiring  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  his 
regiment  was  manifest  in  every  campaign.  In  the  battle  of 
Chickamauga,  he  fearlessly  led  his  regiment  in  the  repeated  as- 
sault on  the  famous  Snodgrass  Hill,  where  his  horse  was  twice 
shot  from  under  him. 

In  that  famous  battle,  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  after 
having  exhausted  their  ammunition,  drove  the  enemy  from  the 
crest  of  the  hill  by  a  fierce  bayonet  charge  led  by  Colonel  Moore. 
The  gallantry  and  efficiency  of  that  charge  has  been  recognized  by 


GENERAL  JESSE  HINES  MOORE  135 

the  United  States  Government  by  the  erection  on  Snodgrass  Hill 
of  a  monument,  inscribed 

ILLINOIS 

H5TH  INFANTRY 

FIRST  BRIGADE,  WHITAKER 

FIRST  DIVISION,  STEDMAN 

RESERVE  CORPS,  GRANGER. 

General  Moore  commanded  the  "Iron  Brigade"  of  the  Fourth 
army  corps,  from  the  battle  of  Nashville,  till  the  regiment  was 
mustered  out  in  June,  1865,  and  well  earned  the  rank  of  brigadier 
given  him  by  President  Lincoln  in  April,  1865,  "for  gallant  and 
meritorious  conduct  on  the  field  of  battle." 

At  Resaca,  Ga.,  on,  or  about  June  24,  1864,  there  was  pre- 
sented to  Colonel  Moore,  by  the  officers  and  enlisted  men  of  his 
regiment,  a  beautiful  and  handsomely  engraved  sword,  in  recog- 
nition of  faithful  and  efficient  service  as  an  officer,  and  as  a 
token  of  their  love,  regard  and  esteem. 

The  sword  has  two  scabbords,  one  a  service  scabbord,  with 
its  belt,  the  other  a  "dress"  scabbard  and  sword  sash.  On  the 
side  of  the  gold  dress  scabbord  is  engraved 

Presented  to 

Colonel  Jesse  H.  Moore,  H5th  Illinois  Infantry, 

by  the  Officers  and  Enlisted  Men 

of  his  Regiment. 

and  on  the  other  side,  the  names  of  the  battles  in  which  Colonel 
Moore  had  led  his  regiment. 

McAffee  Church  Chickamauga 

Wahatchie  Dalton 

Resaca. 

The  sword  was  purchased  by  Major  F.  L.  Hays,  in  New  York 
City,  while  he  was  en  route  to  Washington  to  assume  his  duties 
and  responsibilities  as  a  paymaster  of  troops  in  the  Union  army. 

Major  Hays  sent  the  sword  to  Resaca  by  express,  and  it  was 
presented  to  the  colonel  at  the  time  already  stated. 


136  FOUR  OTHER  DECATUR  GENERALS 

After  General  Moore's  death,  the  sword  was  given  to  his  son, 
Rear  Admiral  C.  B.  T.  Moore,  and  is  still  in  his  keeping. 

After  the  war  General  Moore  resumed  his  duties  as  a  Metho- 
dist preacher,  and  was  presiding  elder  of  the  Decatur  district 
from  1865  to  1868.  In  1868  he  was  elected  to  Congress  from  the 
seventh  Illinois  district,  and  re-elected  in  1870.  He  was  chairman 
of  the  committee  on  pensions  in  the  42d  Congress.  In  1873  ne 
was  appointed  United  States  pension  agent  at  Springfield,  which 
office  he  held  for  four  years.  In  1881  he  was  appointed  by  Pres- 
ident Garfield  United  States  consul  to  Callao,  Peru.  He  filled 
that  post  until  his  death  on  July  n,  1883. 

Yellow  fever  was  epidemic  in  Callao  and  General  Moore  fell 
a  victim  to  the  fell  disease.  He  was  temporarily  buried  at  Cal- 
lao, but  "in  1885,  his  body  was  transferred  by  the  United  States 
government,  to  his  home  in  Decatur  where  all  that  is  mortal  of 
the  Christian  soldier  and  gentleman  who  once  commanded  the 
'Iron  Brigade,'  lies  in  Greenwood  Cemetery,  quietly  awaiting  the 
final  reveille." 

GENERAL  HERMANN  LIEB. 

To  Mrs.  Hermann  Lieb,  who  is  now  residing  in  Chicago,  I  am 
indebted  for  the  following  biography  of  her  husband : 

"General  Hermann  Lieb  was  born  at  Chateau  Hardt,  Ermal- 
lingen  Sur  le  Lac  de  Constanie,  Switzerland,  May  24,  1826.  His 
father  amassed  a  fortune  in  Russia  where  he  introduced  the  man- 
ufacture of  cotton  prints,  in  1822,  under  the  patronage  of  Czar 
Alexander,  who  furnished  six  hundred  crown  serfs  as  workmen 
in  the  industry  and  granted  him  the  use  of  the  winter  palace  of 
Queen  Catherine  as  a  factory. 

"Hermann  Lieb  was  educated  in  Zurich  and  at  a  French  school 
at  Vevey.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  went  into  business  in  France, 
and  at  the  breaking  out  of  a  revolution  he  enlisted  in  the  "Guard 
Mobile,"  serving  until  Louis  Napoleon  was  elected  president. 

"In  1852  he  emigrated  to  America  and  in  1856  he  came  to  De- 
catur where  he  began  the  study  of  law  in  Colonel  Blood's  office. 


GENERAL  HERMANN  LIEB  137 

On  April  16,  1861,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  B,  Eighth 
regiment,  Illinois  volunteers. 

"Young  Lieb,  being  familiar  with  European  tactics,  was  asked 
by  Colonel  Oglesby  to  assist  in  bringing  the  men  of  two  or  three 
companies  under  the  necessary  army  drill.  He  succeeded  so  well 
that  when  three  months  had  elapsed  and  the  men  had  reenlisted, 
he  was  chosen  captain  of  Company  B.  In  October,  1862,  he  was 
appointed  major  of  the  Eighth  Illinois  infantry  and  in  April,  1863, 
was  made  Colonel  of  the  Fifth  U.  S.  Heavy  Artillery  (colored). 
In  March,  1865,  he  was  appointed  brigadier  general,  by  brevet, 
for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  during  the  war." 

In  an  open  letter  from  General  Lieb,  addressed  to  the  Honor- 
able Charles  Francis  Adams,  in  reply  to  an  article  on  "The  Ne- 
gro," published  in  The  Century  Magazine  for  May,  1906,  he  tells 
his  own  story  of  the  formation  of  the  negro  brigade,  of  which 
he  was  commander : 

In  the  early  part  of  1863  the  main  portion  of  General  Grant's  army  for 
the  reduction  of  Vicksburg  was  camped  about  twenty  miles  above  that 
stronghold  on  the  Louisiana  side  of  the  river,  at  a  place  called  Milliken's 
Bend.  Some  time  in  April,  General  Lorenzo  Thomas,  adjutant  general  of 
the  U.  S.  army,  arrived  at  the  Bend  with  orders  from  President  Lincoln 
for  the  organization  of  colored  troops. 

The  outlook  for  such  an  innovation  was  not  propitious  by  any  means. 
The  sentiment  all  through  the  army  was  much  like  that  expressed  by  you 
in  the  Century,  and  if  that  sentiment  did  not  manifest  itself  conspicuously 
it  was  due  to  General  Thomas's  threat  that  opposition  to  the  president's 
policy  by  any  officer,  high  or  low,  would  be  visited  by  immediate  dismissal. 

Being  as  far  from  racial  prejudice  then  as  now,  and  heartily  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  president's  order  and  eager  to  demonstrate  that  all  the 

clamor  raised  about  the  "d Nigger"  was  based  upon  the  most  stupid 

prejudices,  I  resigned  my  position  of  major  in  the  Eighth  Illinois  Infantry 
and  accepted  the  colonelcy  of  one  of  these  regiments. 

No  difficulty  was  encountered  in  securing  the  necessary  number  of  of- 
ficers, but  colored  recruits  were  scarce;  and  as  the  army  was  moving  to 
the  front,  most  of  the  available  negroes  had  been  enlisted  in  the  pontoonier 
corps.  Also,  as  two  other  regiments  were  being  organized,  the  prospect  of 
completing  my  own  was  not  encouraging. 

Under  the  circumstances,  I  obtained  permission,  accompanied  by  two 
of  my  officers,  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  army,  moving  up  within  ten 
miles  east  of  Grand  Gulf,  some  fifteen  miles  below  Vicksburg.  Meeting 
with  my  old  friend,  General  John  D.  Stevenson,  commanding  the  Third 
Brigade  of  General  Logan's  division,  of  which  my  former  regiment,  the 
Eighth  Illinois,  formed  part,  I  told  him  that  recruiting  negroes  was  my  ob- 
ject. 

"The  devil,"  he  replied  in  disgust.  "We  shall  have  a  fight  in  a  day  or 
two.  You've  just  come  in  time  to  take  charge  of  the  skirmishers  of  my 
brigade.  Your  officers  can  do  the  recruiting." 


138  FOUR  OTHER  DECATUR  GENERALS 

I  readily  assented  provided  permission  from  General  Grant  could  be 
obtained.  That  was  easily  procured.  Sure  enough,  two  days  later  the  bat- 
tle of  Raymond  was  fought.  There,  and  in  all  succeeding  engagements,  at 
Jackson,  Champion's  Hill,  on  to  the  assault  on  Vicksburg  on  the  22d  day 
of  May,  I  had  charge  of  the  skirmishers.  The  day  after  that  unsuccess- 
ful attempt  I  returned  to  my  command  at  Milliken's  Bend. 

My  two  officers  had  done  splendidly ;  my  regiment  now  numbered 
some  350  able-bodied  colored  men,  while  the  two  other  regiments  had  done 
as  well,  bringing  the  total  force  to  some  1,100  men,  of  which  as  senior  of- 
ficer present  I  assumed  command.  Our  armament  consisted  of  very  in- 
different Australian  muskets,  but  the  officers,  with  untiring  zeal,  had 
brought  the  recruits,  all  of  them  raw  plantation  hands,  to  an  efficiency  in 
four  and  six  weeks'  drill  which  could  not  have  been  surpassed  by  white 
recruits. 

On  the  7th  of  June  we  were  attacked  by  about  2,500  Texas  Rangers  and 
200  cavalry  under  the  command  of  the  Confederate  General  McCulloch — 
"General  Taylor's  army" — which  ended,  after  an  unprecedented  slaughter, 
with  the  enemy  repulsed,  our  loss  being  twelve  officers  and  ninety  men 
killed  and  seventeen  officers  and  268  men  wounded — the  highest  percentage 
of  loss  in  battle  on  record. 

In  his  official  report  of  that  battle  the  Confederate  commander,  McCul- 
loch, says :  "The  line  was  formed  under  a  heavy  fire  from  the  enemy,  my 
troops  charging  the  breastworks.  This  charge  was  resisted  with  obstinacy 
by  the  negro  portion  of  the  enemy's  forces,  while  the  white  portion  ran 
like  whipped  curs  almost  as  soon  as  the  charge  was  ordered."  In  this 
latter  stricture  McCulloch  probably  meant  a  detachment  of  white  cavalry, 
as  an  Iowa  regiment  was  sent  to  our  assistance  and  did  good  service.  But 
that  batttle  has  gone  into  history  and  the  question,  "Will  the  Negro  Fight?" 
was  then  and  there  settled  for  good. 

Having  been  woundecl,  I  obtained  leave  and  went  north. 

Upon  my  return  early  in  July  I  found  orders  from  General  Grant  to 
report  at  headquarters.  Boarding  the  same  steamer  that  brought  me  down, 
I  met  the  general  next  day.  He  received  me  very  cordially  and  effusively 
complimented  the  officers  and  men  for  the  gallantry  they  had  displayed  at 
the  Bend,  finally  instructing  me  to  reorganize  my  regiment  into  one  of 
heavy  artillery  for  the  defense  of  Vicksburg.  A  steamboat  was  placed  at  my 
disposal  to  proceed  to  Natchez,  where  a  large  camp  of  negro  contrabands 
offered  a  splendid  opportunity  for  recruiting  the  regiment  to  the  full  stan- 
dard of  1,800  men.  I  secured  about  500  volunteers  whom  1  took  to  Vicks- 
burg. The  remnant  of  the  Ninth  Louisiana  Infantry  at  Milliken's  Bend 
was  added,  and  the  new  organization,  under  the  designation  of  Fifth  United 
States  Heavy  Artillery,  colored,  I  promptly  took  in  hand. 

While  the  new  line  of  fortifications  around  Vicksburg  was  being 
erected  by  my  force,  under  General  Grant's  chief  engineer,  I  was  looking 
out  for  an  additional  supply  of  colored  recruits  for  the  complement  of  the 
regiment.  I  was  informed  that  General  Sherman,  who  had  pursued  the 
Confederate  forces  about  Jackson  into  Alabama,  was  expected  to  return  to 
Vicksburg  with  a  great  number  of  contrabands.  General  McPherson  in- 
sisted I  should  have  the  pick. 

Their  arrival  caused  a  general  turnout  of  citizens  and  garrison  through 
which  the  endless  cortege  passed.  Such  a  sight  was  never  seen  since  the 
exodus  of  the  Jew  from  Egypt.  Hundreds  of  vehicles  of  the  most  varied 
description,  from  the  mule  cart  to  the  family  equipage  of  their  former  mas- 
ters, loaded  promiscuously  with  women  and  children,  household  and  kitchen 
furniture,  while  their  male  protectors,  not  so  naked  as  you  saw  them  in 


GENERAL  HERMANN  LIEB  139 

Omdurman,  but  just  as  dirty  and  uncivilized,  marched  in  file  on  both  sides 
of  the  caravan.  In  apparel  they  presented  a  most  laughable  spectacle,  the 
majority  in  bedraggled  plantation  clothing,  some  with  boots,  some  in  shoes, 
most  barefoot,  in  parts  of  Confederate  and  Union  uniforms,  a  few  here 
and  there  with  stovepipe  hats,  caps  or  colored  handkerchiefs  on  their  heads ; 
in  short,  the  whole  cavalcade  could  not  better  be  characterized  than  by  call- 
ing them  a  lot  of  black  savages  returning  from  a  pilfering  expedition. 

From  this  motley  crew  the  army  surgeons  selected  a  sufficient  number 
of  recruits  to  fill  my  regiment  to  the  full  quota.  After  a  bath  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi with  a  scrubbing  with  brush  and  soap,  and  after  shearing  off  their 
braided  curls,  they  were  given  their  military  outfits  and  enrolled  in  one  of 
the  twelve  companies.  Clad  in  Uncle  Sam's  uniform,  their  physical  appear- 
ance was  all  the  most  critical  could  wish,  and  after  a  few  weeks'  drill,  the 
company  officers  were  unanimous  in  their  opinion  that  never  had  they  met 
with  a  body  of  white  recruits  more  willing  and  more  amenable  to  military 
discipline  than  these  lately  collected  half -savages  from  Alabama.  They  all 
had  heard  of  the  fine  conduct  of  their  comrades  at  Milliken's  Bend,  and 
now  met  their  white  brothers  in  arms  with  the  proud  feeling  of  equality. 

But  to  make  out  of  this  material  an  effective  military  force  was  not  the 
end  of  my  aims.  They  had  enlisted  for  three  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  they  would  be  thrown  out  into  the  more  or  less  prejudiced  world,  to 
stand  upon  their  own  feet.  I  felt  that  I  was  upon  trial  as  much  as  these 
half-civilized  recruits.  After  a  consultation  with  my  officers  I  resolved  to 
impart  to  all  of  these  negroes  as  much  elementary  education  as  would  be 
required  for  a  discriminating  American  citizenship.  A  number  of  carpen- 
ters were  selected  from  among  them  to  erect  a  commodious  school  house ; 
through  the  aid  of  the  commanding  general  of  the  post  of  Vicksburg  a 
bevy  of  school  ma'ams  was  secured  from  the  north;  the  chaplain  was 
charged  with  the  superintendency,  and  shortly  all  the  school  rooms  were  in 
full  operation. 

In  addition  I  wish  to  state  that  with  aid  of  a  German  band  master,  I 
organized  a  brass  band  of  musicians,  the  proficiency  of  which  challenged 
the  admiration  of  all  privileged  to  hear  it — the  army  inspectors  from  Wash- 
ington included. 

I  was  convinced  that  it  would  be  of  great  use  if  this  finely  drilled  regi- 
ment could  be  kept  in  the  service,  as  I  believed  the  army  is  a  civilizer.  With 
this  view  in  mind,  I  went  to  Washington  shortly  before  our  muster  out  and 
saw  General  Grant,  then  acting  secretary  of  war.  "I  agree  with  all  you 
say,"  said  the  general.  "I  know  all  about  your  regiment ;  but  it  would  re- 
quire an  act  of  congress."  And  so  my  splendid  regiment  broke  up  and 
turned  to  the  task  of  earning  a  living  for  which  they  had  been  fairly  pre- 
pared. H.  LIEB. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  courage  demanded  for  en- 
listment as  an  officer  of  a  colored  regiment.  Not  only  would  he 
be  subject  to  death  by  torture  if  captured  by  the  Confederates,  but 
his  brother  officers  in  the  Union  army  viewed  him  with  scorn.  Yet 
General  Lieb  not  only  led  his  colored  troops  to  glorious  victory  in 
war,  but  secured  for  himself  and  them  the  respect  and  admiration 
of  the  nation. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  General  Lieb  went  to  Springfield 


140  FOUR  OTHER  DECATUR  GENERALS 

and,  upon  the  advice  of  Governor  Oglesby,  started  a  newspaper 
published  in  German.  In  1868,  he  moved  his  paper  to  Chicago 
where  he  published  it  until  1892. 

He  married  Miss  Sarah  Stevens,  of  Orange,  N.  J.  His 
family  numbered  four  sons,  two  of  whom  died  in  youth. 

The  general  died  on  March  5,  1908,  at  the  Augustana  hospital 
in  Chicago,  of  injuries  resulting  from  a  fall. 

He  was  a  man  of  wide  culture,  having  published  in  English, 
"The  Life  of  Emperor  William  I,"  "The  French  Revolution,  From 
1789  to  1793,"  and  an  exhaustive  compilation  on  the  effects  of  the 
tariff  on  the  growth  of  the  United  States. 


THE  CIVIL  WAR 

"Ah,  never  shall  the  land  forget 
How  gushed  the  life  blood  of  her  brave, 
Gushed  warm  with  hope  and  courage,  yet 
Upon  the  soil  they  sought  to  save." 


CHAPTER  I. 
FLAG  HAD  NEW  MEANING. 

On  that  solemn  Sunday  morning  of  April  14,  1861,  when  it 
was  announced  in  ten  thousand  churches  that  Fort  Sumpter  had 
surrendered  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes  lowered  from  its  battle- 
ments, patriotism  was  born,  and  the  flag  of  the  Union  baptized  as 
its  sacred  symbol. 

South  Carolina  had  fired  the  first  gun  of  the  rebellion  and  its 
echoing  reverberations  aroused  the  nation  to  a  fury  of  indigna- 
tion. A  rebellious  son  had  struck  his  indulgent  mother  in  the 
face,  and  anger  and  horror  had  turned  brotherly  love  into  bitterest 
hate. 

On  that  day  the  Stars  and  Stripes  took  on  a  new  significance. 
Our  flag  was  no  longer  a  mere  thing  of  beauty.  It  was  the  holy 
emblem  of  a  nation,  one  and  indivisible,  from  which  no  member 
could  be  rent  without  the  destruction  of  the  whole,  and  it  sprang 
spontaneously  from  every  church  steeple  and  public  building; 
floated  from  the  windows  of  private  houses,  and  its  colors  adorn- 
ed the  breasts  of  men,  women  and  children. 

Monday  dawned.  The  president  of  the  United  States  issued 
a  proclamation  calling  for  75,000  volunteers  "to  protect  the  prop- 
erty of  the  government,  to  subdue  combinations  too  powerful  to 
be  suppressed  by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings,  and 

141 


142  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

to  cause  the  laws  to  be  duly  executed."  The  gage  of  battle  had 
been  thrown,  the  first  blow  struck,  and  the  issue  of  dread  war  was 
fairly  met. 

The  proclamation  was  like  the  first  peal  of  a  surcharged  thun- 
der cloud  that  cleared  the  air  of  doubt  and  indecision.  Patriotism 
became  a  devouring  flame  that  obliterated  party  lines.  Men  werfc 
no  longer  Democrats  or  Republicans ;  they  were  Americans.  The 
flag,  our  flag,  became  the  idol  of  the  people. 

On  Sunday  afternoon  every  available  flag  in  town  had  been 
routed  from  its  hiding  place  and  floated  to  the  breeze.  Monday 
morning  the  stores  were  besieged  for  red,  white  and  blue,  until 
every  yard  of  material  that  could  in  any  manner  be  converted 
into  an  emblem  of  patriotism  was  exhausted,  and  then  every 
printing  press  in  town  was  pressed  into  service  in  printing  yard 
after  yard  of  white  muslin  into  flags.  Women  gathered  together 
in  convenient  places  to  cut  these  bolts  of  printed  flags  into  indi- 
vidual decorations  and  they  were  given  to  every  passerby. 

It  soon  became  unsafe  to  be  seen  without  this  emblem  of  the 
new  birth.  Men  were  roughly  handled  who  refused  to  wear  an 
offered  flag.  There  were,  however,  very  few  such  men  in  evi- 
dence, for  traitors,  if  such  there  were,  were  sulking  in  their  hiding 
places. 

In  less  than  an  hour  after  President  Lincoln  had  issued  his 
proclamation  of  war  Governor  Yates  had  supplemented  it  with  a 
call  for  six  regiments  of  volunteers  (the  quota  assigned  Illinois 
by  the  secretary  of  war),  and  Decatur  rushed  to  the  front  in  an 
endeavor  to  tender  the  governor  the  first  organized  company  en- 
listed in  the  state.  Captain  John  Post  opened  a  recruiting  office 
in  Powers  hall,  and  was  soon  swearing  in  his  men,  almost  as  fast 
as  they  could  write  their  names.  The  next  morning  Captain  I. 
N.  Martin's  company  was  enlisting  at  the  court  house,  and  before 
night,  on  the  sixteenth  of  April,  Decatur's  two  full  companies  of 
one  hundred  men  each,  had  been  sworn  in  and  their  offcers  prop- 
erly elected. 

The  first  name  entered  on  the  roll  of  honor  was  that  of 

,  the  second  was  William  F.  Martin  (Comrade), 

who  has  for  years  been  honored  as  the  official  color  bearer  -of  the 


FLAG  HAD  NEW  MEANING  143 

Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and  has  carried  the  flag  at  the  head 
of  all  processions  at  national  and  state  encampments.  Comrade 
Martin's  worship  of  the  flag  has  become  almost  a  mania,  and  he 
never  allows  any  occasion  of  moment  to  pass  without  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  being  in  evidence  at  the  head  of  the  procession. 

The  two  Decatur  companies  were  hurried  to  Springfield, 
where  they  constituted  Companies  A  and  B  of  the  Eighth  Illi- 
nois Militia.  The  other  eight  companies  of  the  regiment  had 
been  recruited,  Company  C  at  Charleston ;  D  at  Olney  and 
Springfield;  E  at  Peoria;  F  at  Pekin;  G  at  Pittsfield,  and 
Griggsville ;  H  at  Vandalia,  I  at  Lawrenceville,  and  K  at  Bloom- 
ington,  taking  precedent  in  the  order  of  their  arrival  at  Spring- 
field. 

Richard  J.  Oglesby,  who  had  resigned  his  office  of  state  sen- 
ator and  tendered  to  Governor  Yates  his  "services  in  any  capacity 
where  he  could  render  service,"  was  made  colonel. 

Ten  companies  of  one  hundred  men  each,  fully  and  properly 
officered,  were  mustered  in  on  April  25.  The  two  Decatur  com- 
panies when  they  went  to  Springfield,  numbered  more  than  100 
men  each.  After  the  regiment  was  organized  the  companies  were 
reduced  to  seventy-five  men  each.  It  was  a  hard  thing  to  delib- 
erately call  out  men  and  send  them  home,  so  the  men  were  lined 
up  by  companies  and  any  who  were  willing  to  go  home  were 
asked  to  step  forward.  Not  one  moved  from  the  ranks.  Then 
it  was  decided  to  choose  the  men  who  were  to  be  dismissed  by  lot, 
so  five  men,  as  they  stood  in  the  line,  were  counted  and  the  sixth 
dismissed.  The  dismissed  men  at  once  went  into  some  other  com- 
pany. 

When  it  became  known  that  Dick  Oglesby  was  to  command 
the  two  Decatur  companies  the  enthusiasm  and  excitement  of  the 
people  of  Decatur  knew  no  bounds.  Frank  L.  Hays  was  dis- 
patched to  St.  Louis  to  buy  silk  for  a  "flag  for  Oglesby's  regi- 
ment," and  many  women  were  soon  at  work.  The  flag  was  made 
in  the  parlor  of  the  Revere  House  and  more  than  a  hundred 
women  claimed  the  privilege  of  putting  some  stitches  into  it.  So 
determined  was  every  woman  to  have  a  hand  in  the  work  that  no 
one  was  allowed  to  finish  a  star.  In  some  instances  each  of  the 


144  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

five  points  was  hemmed  by  a  different  hand.  Greatly  envied 
were  the  few  who  knew  how  to  run  a  sewing  machine  and  thus 
contribute  a  long  seam  to  the  coveted  work. 

The  Eighth  regiment  was  ordered  to  Cairo  in  a  very  few 
days  and  en  route  stopped  in  Decatur  for  the  flag  presentation. 
Only  the  two  Decatur  companies  were  allowed  to  leave  the  train, 
where  the  men  were  packed  like  cattle,  on  platform  and  freight 
cars.  The  Decatur  men  were  "given  liberty"  for  an  hour,  and  as 
many  of  them  as  could  passed  that  hour  at  their  homes.  For  the 
rest  there  had  been  baskets  of  good  things  spread  on  the  grass  in 
the  park. 

The  soldiers  were  without  uniforms  but  every  man  wore, 
strapped  to  his  back,  a  knapsack,  a  blanket  and  a  canteen.  The 
canteens  were  soon  filled  by  the  personal  friends  of  the  men,  each 
according  to  his  taste.  Every  wife  and  sweetheart  had  brought 
some  gift  to  add  to  the  burden  on  her  lover's  back.  Some  brought 
embroidered  slippers ;  one  soldier  was  supplied  with  a  gorgeous 
dressing  gown.  A  number  of  girls  had  sat  up  nights  to  make 
"convenient"  toilet  cases,  which  were  equipped  with  clothes 
brushes  and  hair  brushes,  tooth  brushes,  razors  and  strops  and 
plenty  of  perfumed  soap  and  toilet  .powders,  to  which  they  had 
added  a  good  supply  of  thread,  needles  and  buttons. 

Clean  clothes,  a  warmer  coat,  another  pair  of  trousers,  a  dozen 
new  handkerchiefs  were  some  of  the  things  put  into  the  roll  of 
blankets  or  made  to  swell  the  knapsacks  to  enormous  size.  No 
man  refused  anything,  it  mattered  not  how  ridiculous  or  burden- 
some it  was,  it  was  the  gift  of  love  to  take  away  the  sting  of  death. 

With  these  varied  equipments  the  men  were,  at  the  end  of  the 
hour,  drawn  up  on  the  Water  street  front  of  the  platform  which 
had  been  built  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Central  park.  Preston 
Butler  here  took  a  picture  of  them,  but  I  am  afraid  that  there  is  no 
copy  of  that  picture  extant. 

An  immense  crowd  filled  the  park  and  the  streets,  a  number  of 
representative  citizens  took  their  places  on  the  platform  and  the 
formalities  of  the  flag  presentation  took  place.  "America"  was 
sung,  Father  Stamper,  choked  with  tears,  offered  a  prayer  and 
Miss  Cal  Allen  made  the  presentation  speech  while  Miss  Hattie 


FLAG  HAD  NEW  MEANING  145 

White  (Mrs.  F.  L.  Hays)  held  the  staff.  Colonel  Oglesby  re- 
sponded in  a  speech  of  such  fervid  eloquence  that  the  people  sim- 
ply went  wild.  Men,  women  and  children  shouted  and  wept  and 
embraced  each  other  frantically. 

At  last  the  command  was  given :  "Right  about !  Face,  March !" 

No  one  who  witnessed  that  departure  of  Decatur's  first  sol- 
diers will  ever  forget  it. 

"Hummel  and  Wiggins  and  Nail"  with  two  drums  and  a  fife 
were  the  musical  escort  of  the  procession.  At  the  solemn  tap,  tap 
of  the  drum,  with  the  new  flag  carried  proudly  at  their  head,  the 
men  fell  into  line  and  their  mothers  and  sisters,  sweethearts  and 
wives  fell  in  beside  them  and  clinging  to  their  arms  or  marching 
hand  in  hand,  kept  step  to  the  music.  More  than  one  soldier 
carried  his  baby  in  his  arms,  while  his  wife,  holding  to  his  coat 
sleeve,  led  other  children  by  the  hand 

I  cannot  write  for  tears. 


CHAPTER  II. 
OUR  MEN  TO  FRONT. 

Three  months  had  passed  and  75,000  volunteers  had  not 
crushed  the  rebellion.  Fierce  fires  of  patriotism  that  had  warmed 
the  hearts  of  brave  women,  when  they  sent  their  loved  ones  out  to 
apparent  death,  had  burned  to  ashes,  the  little  printed  flags,  their 
colors  washed  out  by  tears,  the  neglected  farm  and  the  hungry 
child  called  "father  come  home." 

For  the  men  who,  three  long  months  before,  had  gone  out  so 
full  of  enthusiasm;  bad  food,  bad  water,  vermin  and  dirt  had 
made  life  almost  unendurable.  They  had  fought  mosquitoes, 
flies  and  disease  and  had  conquered — themselves.  They  had 
guarded  bridges  and  held  the  "Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,"  in 
check  and  by  their  presence  had  kept  the  rebel  army  from  in- 
vading Illinois,  but  they  had  fought  no  battles  and  won  no  glory. 
Inaction  had  quelled  their  enthusiasm  and  broken  their  spirit ; 
but  when  they  were  asked  to  re-enlist  they  never  faltered.  The 
life  of  their  country  was  at  stake,  demanding  renewed  sacrifice 
of  comfort,  of  home,  of  business,  even  of  life.  They  had  no 
promise  of  pay  or  pension,  nothing  to  tempt  them — nothing  but 
patriotism — patriotism  which  was  now  put  to  the  crucial  test. 
Grim  determination  replaced  the  glow  of  enthusiasm. 

More  men  must  be  sent  into  the  field  of  war;  more  women 
must  equip  themselves  to  take  men's  places  in  the  field  of  labor. 

The  quota  of  Illinois  was  full  and,  in  addition,  10,000  men, 
already  organized  and  waiting  orders  but  for  whose  services  there 
had  as  yet  been  no  call,  were  begging  to  be  sent  to  the  front.  With 
this  "embarrassment  of  riches"  Governor  Yates  had  found  it  as 
difficult  to  select  the  required  number  of  regiments  as  had  the 
captains  of  companies  to  reduce  their  ranks  from  one  hundred  to 
seventy-five. 

The  legislature  was  in  session  and  came  to  the  governor's  re- 

146 


OUR  MEN  TO  FRONT  147 

lief.  A  law  was  enacted  authorizing  him  to  "accept  the  services 
of  one  regiment  from  each  congressional  district  for  one  month, 
to  be  paid  by  the  state,  but  pledged  to  go  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States  if  there  should  be  further  call  during  their  term." 
It  was  therefore  of  first  importance  that  some  action  should  be 
immediately  taken  to  secure  the  transfer  of  these  men  from  the 
state  to  the  United  States  service. 

At  Governor  Yates'  request  a  committee  of  citizens  went  to 
Washington  early  in  July  to  urge  upon  President  Lincoln  the  im- 
mediate mustering  in  of  ten  additional  Illinois  regiments. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Johns  was  one  of  the  men  sent  on  this  mission.  I 
make  some  extracts  from  his  letters  home.  In  the  first  one,  dated 
Washington,  July  16,  1861,  he  said: 

"We  find  official  Washington  in  a  turmoil  of  doubt  and  un- 
certainty, torn  to  fragments  by  anxiety  and  conflicting  opinions 
on  vital  questions.  There  is  a  strong  party  urging  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  free  and  arm  the  slaves  at  once.  'Keep  the  rebels  at  home  to 
protect  themselves  and  we  won't  need  any  more  white  soldiers/  is 
their  argument.  I  rather  think  it  wouldn't  be  a  bad  idea  to  set 
them  to  killing  each  other,  to  save  us  the  trouble. 

"The  loyal  patriots  of  the  border  states  are  yelling,  'keep  your 
hands  off  the  negroes ;  enforce  the  law ;  protect  our  property.' 
Then  there  is  an  influential  crowd  of  cowards  whose  cry  is  'com- 
promise,' 'conciliate,'  'peace — peace  at  any  price.'  In  my  opinion 
we  will  have  peace  when  the  lion  and  lamb  lie  down  together  and 
the  terrier  pup  and  rat  eat  bacon  from  the  same  flitch." 

On  the  1 8th,  he  wrote : 

"There  is  not  a  man  in  the  cabinet  who  has  not  believed  him- 
self to  be  a  bigger  man  than  Lincoln ;  but  they  are  fast  finding 
out  that  they  are  not  -dealing  with  a  man  of  putty.  They  do  not 
agree  among  themselves  and  therefore  can't  bring  very  strong 
pressure  to  bear  on  him.  He  listens  patiently  to  their  suggestions, 
makes  a  few  comments  and  puts  an  end  to  dissensions  by  telling 
a  story  or  playing  with  Tad,  who,  it  is  said,  he  keeps  within  call 
as  a  buffer.  The  arming  of  slaves  is  the  only  phase  of  the  situa- 
tion upon  which  he  has  expressed  himself  emphatically.  He  will 


148  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

have  none  of  it;  he  will  'neither  encourage  rebellion  nor  insur- 
rection.' " 

Two  days  after  the  above  letter  was  written  the  battle  of 
Bull  Run,  the  first  pitched  battle  of  the  war,  settled  the  question 
of  a  big  army.  The  irreconcilable  differences  of  cabinet  or  con- 
gress no  longer  palsied  Mr.  Lincoln's  hand.  He  cut  the  Gordian 
knot  and  within  a  week  300,000  men  were  called  into  the  field. 

Four  years  of  WAR  had  been  inaugurated.  In  this  four  years 
two  million  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand,  three  hun- 
dred and  four  men  enlisted  in  the  Union  army.  Of  these,  two 
hundred  and  fifty-nine  thousand  were  from  Illinois,  and  Macon 
county,  with  a  population  of  thirteen  thousand,  six  hundred  and 
fifty-five,  furnished  three  thousand,  three  hundred  and  thirty-one 
of  that  number.  This  was  25  per  cent,  of  the  entire  population 
taken  from  the  producing  class  of  citizens,  the  bone  and  sinew 
of  the  land.  They  came  from  the  farm  and  the  work  shop,  the 
bank  and  the  merchant's  counter,  the  student's  den  and  the  la- 
borer's hut.  Preachers  forsook  their  pulpits,  lawyers  their  clients 
and  doctors  their  patients,  and  sang  together,  "We  are  coming, 
Father  Abraham." 

The  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  Macon  county's  population  who 
did  not  go  were  women  and  children  and  men  too  old  to  do  ef- 
fective military  service,  but  who  sent  their  sons  and  brothers  to 
the  front  while  with  renewed  youth  and  vigor  they  took  their 
places  in  the  ranks  of  labor  and  business. 

There  were  also  a  few  strong  men,  brave  enough  to  stay  at 
home  because  they  could  serve  their  country  better  in  the  field  of 
business  than  in  the  field  of  war.  I  say  "brave  enough,"  because 
it  required  bravery  to  hear  the  sneers  and  muendoes  cast  upon 
the  courage  and  patriotism  of  the  men  who  stayed  at  home  and  to 
resist  the  tide  of  enthusiasm  which  threatened  to  carry  them  out 
on  unknown  seas  seeking  honor  and  glory,  while  plain  common 
sense  bade  them  stay  at  home  and  attend  to  the  humdrum  work 
for  which  education  and  experience  had  fitted  them  and  which 
duty  demanded  of  them.  It  was  just  as  essential  to  the  success 
of  the  union  cause  that  trade  should  be  carried  on,  manufactures 
continued  and  offices  loyally  filled  and  faithfully  administered  as 


OUR  MEN  TO  FRONT  149 

it  was  that  armies  should  be  recruited  for  the  struggle  in  the 
field.  Men  like  James  Millikin,  Dr.  William  A.  Barnes,  Lowber 
Burrows,  Judge  S.  F.  Greer,  E.  McClellan,  John  Ullrich  and 
H.  B.  Durfee,  who  gave  their  time  and  talent  to  keep  the  ball  of 
business  enterprise  rolling  and  whose  advice,  sympathy  and  mon- 
ey were  freely  given  to  aid  the  soldiers'  wives  at  home  or  the 
sick  and  wounded  in  the  hospitals  deserve  as  much  honor  as  the 
men  who  fought  the  battles  of  the  war. 

"The  backbone  of  the  Union  army  was  the  unfaltering  sup- 
port it  received  from  the  loyal  people  who  helped  to  maintain  it, 
who  followed  it  with  their  sympathy  and  aid,  who  in  fact  fur- 
.lished  the  sinews  of  war  and  made  its  glorious  success  possible." 

Macon  county  did  herself  honor  not  only  in  the  number  but  in 
the  quality  of  the  men  she  sent  out  to  do  battle  for  their  country. 
A  large  proportion  of  her  men  acquired  distinction  and  received 
promotion  for  gallant  service  in  the  army.  Decatur,  with  only  six 
thousand  inhabitants,  had,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  five  generals 
on  her  roll  of  honor,  Oglesby,  Pugh,  Smith,  Moore  and  Lieb. 

The  name  of  Colonel  Nathan  W.  Tupper  ought  to  be  added  to 
this  list  of  Decatur  generals  for  he  was  in  command  of  a  bri- 
gade after  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge  and  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  formally  commissioned  general  if  his  untimely  death 
had  not  prevented. 

In  the  surgical  branch  of  the  service  Macon  county  sent  out  a 
remarkable  number  of  skilled  workers.  Eleven  physicians  for- 
sook lucrative  practice  at  home  to  serve  the  sick  and  wounded  in 
the  army. 

Drs.  S.  T.  Trowbrirlge  and  Charles  Dennison  went  out  with 
the  Eighth  regiment  on  April  25,  1861,  and  both  served  during 
the  war. 

Drs.  Ira  Curtis  and  H.  C.  Johns  volunteered  after  the  battle 
of  Fort  Donelson  and  went  with  Governor  Yates  to  Cairo  to 
help  with  the  wounded  who  were  being  sent  north  from  the  bat- 
tlefield. 

Dr.  Curtis  suffered  a  stroke  of  paralysis,  brought  on  by  over 
exertion  while  in  charge  of  an  improvised  hospital  at  Mound  City, 
His  life  was  despaired  of  for  many  months  and  he  was  an  invalid 


150  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

the  remainder  of  his  life.  Dr.  Johns  was  sent  to  the  battlefield  by 
Governor  Yates  with  instructions  to  use  his  discretion  on  the  dis- 
position of  the  hundreds  of  wounded  men  left  on  the  field.  He 
took  possession  of  every  available  house  in  the  vicinity  and  impro- 
vised hospitals  for  such  of  the  men  as  were  unable  to  endure 
twenty  miles  of  rough  roads  by  wagon  before  they  reached  river 
transportation.  Governor  Yates  gave  him  a  state  commission  as 
"surgeon  in  the  field,"  and  he  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  Donel- 
son  and  luka  for  three  months,  most  of  the  time  taking  the  place 
of  the  surgeon  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Illinois,  who  had  been  sent 
home  on  sick  leave.  Dr.  Johns  was  afterwards  commissioned 
surgeon  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-ninth  Illinois  in  which 
capacity  he  served  two  years. 

Dr.  William  J.  Chenoweth  was  surgeon  of  the  Thirty-fifth 
and  Dr.  Enoch  W.  Moore  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth,  of 
which  Dr.  Nelson  G.  Blalock  was  assistant  surgeon. 

Dr.  Ira  N.  Barnes  served  as  surgeon  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Sixteenth  regiment,  and  Drs.  Heckleman  and  Joseph  A.  Hostetler 
as  assistants,  and  all  three  were  mustered  out  June  7,  1865,  serv- 
ing till  the  close  of  the  war.  William  M.  Gray  was  first  surgeon 
of  the  Forty-first  and  afterwards  of  the  Sixty-third,  but  resigned 
after  a  short  service  with  each  on  account  of  ill  health. 

Can  any  county  in  the  United  States  with  no  more  than  thir- 
teen thousand,  six  hundred  and  fifty-five  inhabitants  exceed  Ma- 
con  county's  record  of  three  thousand,  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
one  volunteers,  five  generals  and  eleven  surgeons  ? 


CHAPTER  III. 
BURDENS  ON  THOSE  AT  HOME.  • 

In  the  great  upheaval  and  readjustment  of  social  and  political 
conditions  consequent  on  the  civil  war,  few  things  had  more  last- 
ing consequence  or  greater  influence  on  the  future  of  the  nation 
than  the  awakening  of  woman  to  a  realization  of  her  capacity 
and  power  in  the  conduct  of  affairs.  Before  1860,  it  was  the  ex- 
ception, not  the  rule,  for  a  woman  to  have  any  influence  over,  part- 
nership in,  or  intelligent  knowledge  of  her  husband's  business. 
The  husband  was  the  head  of  the  house,  paid  the  bills  and  held  the 
purse  strings.  Few  women  ever  had  a  dollar  they  could  call  their 
own  or  spend  without  special  permission  of  the  lord  of  the  exe- 
chequer,  and  either  cringing  economy  or  careless  waste  was  the 
almost  inevitable  result  of  such  irresponsible  financiering.  The 
women  who  earned  money  were  looked  upon  either  with  pity  or 
contempt,  pity  if  she  must,  or  contempt  if  she  openly  desired  to 
so  debase  her  womanhood. 

Teaching,  sewing  or  keeping  boarders  was  legitimate  employ- 
ment for  women  who  were  compelled  to  support  themselves,  but 
if  one  had  a  husband,  father  or  brother  it  was  a  loss  of  both 
caste  and  self  respect  to  openly  earn  money.  As  a  rule,  they  were 
content  to  be  merely  domestic  animals,  giving  to  the  family  their 
strength  and  ability  under  the  direction  of  some  overlord,  hus- 
band, brother  or  business  agent,  and  receiving  in  return  their 
"keep"  and  affectionate  care. 

The  transition  of  the  country  from  peace  to  war  was  appalling 
and  swift,  but  the  regeneration  of  its  women  kept  pace  with  it. 
Confronted  with  responsibilities  never  before  assumed  they  cast 
aside  timidity  and  put  on  strength.  Ignorance,  inexperience  and 
false  pride  had  made  them  willing  slaves,  but  the  clash  of  war 
had  rent  their  bonds,  they  sprang  forth  full  armed,  brave  and 
strong  to  do  battle  as  best  they  might  for  their  country.  The 


152  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

new  born  patriotism  of  the  hour  swept  them  to  the  loftiest  heights 
of  devotion  and  sacrifice.  They  sent  their  husbands,  sons,  broth- 
ers and  lovers  to  the  fearful  chances  of  the  battlefield  and  forced 
their  white  lips  to  say  a  cheerful  goodbye  while  their  hearts  were 
nigh  breaking  with  the  struggle.  The  only  panacea  for  such 
anguish  was  the  mighty  power  of  absorbing  work.  The  farm,  the 
counting  house  and  the  office  found  them  taking  the  places  of 
men  who  had  gone  forth  to  battle. 

It  was  upon  the  farmer's  family  that  the  heaviest  burden  of 
labor  fell.  To  the  ordinary  duties  of  a  farmer's  wife  were  now 
added  the  care  of  the  stock  as  well  as  the  planting  and  harvesting 
of  crops.  The  amateur  farmer's  ignorance  of  the  details  of  her 
new  profession  sometimes  led  to  very  ludicrous  mistakes.  A  lady 
who  had  contracted  to  fill  the  "haymows"  in  a  number  of  city 
barns,  cut  the  grass  one  day  and  the  next  morning  delivered  it  as 
hay,  and  was  much  astonished  to  hear  that  her  customers  refused 
to  receive  green  grass  at  hay  prices.  On  a  farm  where  there  was 
a  number  of  blooded  brood  mares  with  their  colts  and  yearlings, 
all  the  hair  on  the  mane  and  tails  of  the  mares  and  colts  grad- 
ually disappeared  and  all  the  stock  developed  a  mania  for  gnaw- 
ing fence  rails  and  chewing  the  mangers  of  their  stalls.  On  ap- 
plication to  the  "Prairie  Farmer"  for  the  cause  and  remedy,  the 
answer  came,  "How  often  do  you  salt  your  stock?  Your  cows 
and  colts  have  probably  eaten  the  manes  and  tails  of  the  horses 
and  your  fences  and  mangers  have  disappeared  in  lieu  of  salt." 

There  had  not  been  a  pound  of  salt  fed  to  the  stock  on  that 
farm  in  ten  months. 

The  "Prairie  Farmer,"  published  in  Chicago,  had  offered  its 
columns  to  the  women  of  the  west  as  a  medium  for  the  exchange 
of  experiences,  and  letters  of  sympathy,  advice  and  condolence 
were  freely  exchanged.  In  my  scrap  book  I  find  a  few  of  these 
letters,  some  extracts  from  which  will  illustrate  the  spirit  which 
actuated  the  women  of  '63. 

*  *  *  It  rains  in  torrents,  has  been  pitchy  dark  two  hours  and  the 
little  ones,  tired  of  their  merry  Christmas  play,  have  gone  to  bed.  The 
long  lone  evening  must  be  passed  alone.  All  day,  for  the  children's  sake, 
I  have  laughed  a  merry  laugh  and  worn  a  cheerful  smile;  yet,  even  the 
little  ones  have  seen  through  the  thin  guise  the  sad  heart  beneath.  Alas ! 


BURDENS  ON  THOSE  AT  HOME  153 

how  many  a  heart  is  sad  today  with  thoughts  of  the  loved  ones  exposed 
to  the  fearful  peril  of  the  battlefield,  or  perhaps  lying  on  the  narrow  cot 
of  the  hospital  with  no  soft  hands  to  press  the  aching  brow  and  no  kind 
voice  to  cheer  their  joyless  Christmas. 

The  weekly  visits  of  the  Prairie  Farmer  will  be  looked  for  with  more 
than  usual  anxiety  in  many  families  during  the  coming  year.  Many  a  wife, 
left  alone  to  manage  the  farm,  will  look  anxiously  through  its  columns 
for  instruction  and  advice  in  the  performance  of  her  unwonted  duties. 
Anxious  to  perform  her  part  well,  unwilling  that  aught  of  home  interests 
shall  suffer  while  the  husband  or  father  is  serving  his  country  in  the  tented 
field — the  new  duties  will  be  performed  with  fear  and  trembling,  yet  with 
a  firm  determination  that  no  blades  of  grass,  no  spear  of  grain  the  less, 
shall  grow  because  a  woman's  hand  is  at  the  helm. 

Will  some  of  you  numerous  correspondents  tell  us  what  will  be  the 
probable  price  of  labor  per  month  for  good  hands?  How  are  we  ladies 
who  have  to  manage  the  farm,  to  find  out  these  things.  Shall  we  stand  on 
the  street  corners  with  the  men  and  canvass  these  matters,  or  must  we 
take  Pat's  word  for  it  when  he  comes  in  with  his,  "Shure  and  hands  are 
going  to  be  very  scarce  and  won't  be  hired  this  summer  for  less  than  $25 
a  month."  And  again,  how  are  we  to  get  hands  at  all  unless  we  join  these 
same  street  corner  groups,  for  if  we  accidentally  hear  of  a  good  man  look- 
ing for  employment  for  the  summer,  before  we  can  find  him  some  man 
farmer  has  grabbed  him  "just  a  week  ago."  Would  it  do  any  good  to  ad- 
vertise in  the  Farmer  or  do  such  men  as  we  want  seldom  look  at  a  paper. 

All  the  newspapers  in  the  country  took  a  lively  interest  in  the 
"new  departure"  in  woman's  sphere  and  told  many  stories  of  the 
extraordinary  prowess  of  the  "female  farmers."  The  Decatur 
Magnet  of  June  16,  1863,  tells  the  following  story  of  local  in- 
terest : 

There  is,  living  near  Argenta,  a  young  woman  about  nineteen  years 
old,  who  takes  the  lead  in  agricultural  labor.  One  of  her  brothers  is  in 
the  army,  the  other  has  seen  service  but  has  been  sent  home  a  cripple  and 
the  father  is  also  disabled ;  so  she  has  gone  into  the  field  and  about  three 
weeks  ago  covered  1,050  hills  of  corn  in  five  hours.  She  was  draging  oats 
the  last  heard  from. 

This  young  woman  was  no  exception.  On  almost  every  farm, 
women  were  compelled  to  work  in  the  corn  and  harvest  fields,  if 
crops  were  raised  or  garnered. 

It  was  almost  impossible  to  hire  men.  Negroes  might  and 
would  have  relieved  the  situation  but  there  existed  everywhere 
intense  hostility  to  the  admission  of  negroes  into  the  community. 
Thousands  of  "contrabands"  were  proving  a  curse  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  army  because  they  were  not  allowed  to  come  into  the  free 
states  where  their  labor  could  have  been  made  effective. 

Political  capital  was  made  of  any  effort  to  relieve  the  situation 


154  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

by  employing  the  negro  and  a  popular  Democratic  shiboleth  was 
"Keep  out  the  negro." 

Almost  the  only  available  labor  was  the  few  Irishmen  who 
were  not  employed  by  the  railroads  and  they  were  particularly 
hostile,  swearing  loudly  that  "no  damned  nigger  should  work  in 
this  vicinity."  A  few  good  men  of  color  had  come  to  Decatur 
and  were  welcomed  to  the  harvest  fields  by  the  hard  pressed 
farmers'  wives. 

I  had  succeeded  in  getting  my  hay  cut,  but  could  find  no 
stackers.  Three  colored  men,  Stanton  Fields,  John  Bird  and 
George  Howard,  who  had  recently  arrived  in  town,  reported 
themselves  as  willing  to  do  the  work  and  I  hired  them  at  $1.25  a 
day  and  board.  Then  came  trouble.  The  first  difficulty  occurred 
when  two  white  men,  who  were  hired  at  higher  wages,  refused  to 
work  with  "niggers,"  and  the  next  when  a  gang  of  "hoodlums," 
who  had  "squatted"  in  the  woods  near  the  river,  gathered  near  my 
house  yelling  "nigger  lover — she  eats  with  niggers.  Down  with 
the  damned  abolitionists!"  That  evening  I  received  an  anony- 
mous letter  warning  me  that  my  stacks  would  be  burned  unless  I 
discharged  the  negroes. 

The  postmaster,  Mr.  John  Ryan,  who  was  an  Irishman  and  a 
Catholic,  heard  of  my  trouble  and  at  once  called  upon  the  Catho- 
lic priest  and  a  few  loyal  Irishmen  to  come  to  my  protection. 
That  night  an  armed  guard  was  placed  at  the  hay  stacks  and  Mr. 
Ryan  sent  a  trusty  man  to  watch  the  house.  The  police  were  on 
guard  and  it  was  arranged  that  if  at  any  time  in  the  night  a  light 
should  appear  in  the  west  window  of  the  tower  of  my  home,  they 
would  immediately  come  to  my  rescue. 

The  three  colored  men,  who  were  the  principal  objects  of  this 
persecution,  lived  for  many  years  in  Decatur  and  were  useful 
and  reputable  citizens. 

Along  the  river  bottoms  near  Decatur  there  had  appeared, 
early  in  1861  a  colony  of  men  who  claimed  to  be  refugees  from 
conscription  in  the  south.  They  built  cabins  on  the  banks  of  the 
river  and  claimed  to  live  by  fishing  and  wood  cutting,  and  very 
soon  began  to  terrorize  the  neighborhood.  They  always  came  to 
town  in  gangs,  ruthlessly  tearing  down  fences,  riding  through 


BURDENS  ON  THOSE  AT  HOME  155 

fields  of  grain  and  shooting  recklessly  as  they  went.     Next  to 
"niggers"  the  uniform  of  a  soldier  excited  their  ire. 

At  one  time  the  Rev.  N.  M.  Baker,  chaplain  of  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Sixteenth  regiment,  was  sent  home  on  official  business. 
Upon  his  arrival  in  Decatur  he  started  on  foot  to  visit  his  moth- 
er in  Mt.  Zion.  When  near  the  foot  of  Johns  Hill  he  met  a  gang 
of  these  reprobates  who,  on  seeing  his  uniform,  followed  him 
calling  him  every  name  their  unclean  vocabulary  could  invent. 
Mr.  Baker  said  it  was  the  bitterest  pill  he  ever  swallowed. 

Dr.  Johns  at  one  time  came  home  on  sick  leave,  weak  and  ner- 
vous. He  had  missed  connections  at  Centralia  and  came  in  on  a 
freight  train  just  about  dusk.  He  left  the  cars  at  the  foot  of 
Prairie  street  and  walked  home  through  the  woods.  He  unfortu- 
nately fell  in  with  a  number  of  these  drunken  "wood  rats."  His 
obnoxious  uniform  was  their  first  ground  of  attack,  but  when 
they  recognized  him  they  changed  their  form  of  abuse  and  turn- 
ed their  vile  epithets  upon  his  wife  and  his  home.  Fortunately  he 
was  armed  with  a  six  shooting  revolver,  and  although  weak,  al- 
most to  fainting,  he  turned  upon  them  as  he  was  climbing  the 
fence  into  his  own  pasture  and  fired  a  volley  into  their  midst  and 
they  ran. 

These  men  became  so  obnoxious  that  they  were  soon  driven 
from  their  lair  in  the  woods  by  the  citizens  of  the  country  and 
compelled  to  seek  refuge  in  some  more  congenial  community. 

One  of  the  most  serious  difficulties  the  amateur  business  wo- 
man had  to  encounter  was  the  scarcity  and  uncertain  value  of 
money.  Officers  and  soldiers  left  home  leaving  notes  and  ac- 
counts behind  them  to  be  collected  for  the  immediate  support  of 
their  families.  The  value  of  these  notes  depended  upon  the  price 
of  gold  on  the  day  they  were  paid.  A  note  for  $100,  given  in  pay- 
ment for  a  horse  and  due  six  months  after  date,  was  worth  only 
$48  the  day  the  note  fell  clue. 

Farm  hands  refused  to  contract  to  work  except  for  wages 
paid  on  a  gold  basis.  Products  could  be  exchanged  at  high  prices 
for  "shin  plaster"  of  one  value  in  one  store  and  another  at  an- 
other. Almost  every  business  house  in  Decatur  issued  "shin  plas- 
ters" (little  pasteboard  promises  to  pay  five  or  ten  or  twenty-five 


156  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

cents),  which  were  seldom  worth  their  face  value  in  any  other 
place  than  the  store  which  had  issued  them.  It  took  more  brains 
than  the  average  woman  had  to  spare  from  her  other  work  and 
worries  to  untangle  the  ravelled  skein  of  finance,  so  she  submis- 
sively took  what  she  could  get  and  paid  what  she  had  to.  And 
she  had  to  pay  many  prices  for  a  pound  of  sugar,  or  for  a  pound 
of  coffee,  if  she  did  not  use  parched  sweet  potatoes  or  rye,  flav- 
ored with  a  gummy  substance  sold  her  as  extract  of  coffee,  as  a 
substitute.  Calico  cost  forty  and  fifty  cents  a  yard  and  un- 
bleached muslin  was  sold  at  the  same  price,  while  shoes,  though 
indispensable,  brought  fabulous  prices. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
AID  SOCIETY'S  BEGINNING. 

The  summer  of  '61  was  one  of  intense  depression  and  gloomy 
foreboding.  The  disaster  of  Bull  Run,  the  apparent  inactivity  of 
our  armies  and  the  exaggerated  reports  of  the  preparedness  of 
the  enemy  had  sobered  the  excited  multitude  and  opened  their 
eyes  to  the  magnitude  of  the  struggle  upon  which  the  nation  had 
entered.  We  learned  that  other  enemies  than  armed  rebels  had 
to  be  met  and  conquered ;  that  there  was  work  to  do  at  home  as 
well  as  upon  the  battle  field. 

There  had  been  a  great  deal  of  sickness  among  "our  boys"  at 
Cairo  and  sporadic  but  ill  advised  efforts  to  relieve  their  suffering 
had  proved  of  no  avail.  Entirely  unacquainted  with  the  require- 
ments of  war  or  the  needs  of  soldiers,  it  was  inevitable  that  first 
movements  for  army  relief  should  be  misdirected. 

Individual  and  neighborhood  efforts  were  made  to  provide  the 
volunteers  with  home  comforts  when  well  and  hospital  supplies 
when  sick,  but  very  few  of  these  benefactions  ever  reached  their 
destination.  Indigestible  and  perishable  dainties  were  packed  in 
boxes  with  clothing,  books,  stationery,  photographs  and  toilet  ar- 
ticles and  sent  to  Cairo,  but  before  the  soldier  or  surgeon  to  whom 
they  were  addressed  could  by  any  possibility  claim  them,  they 
were  unfit  for  any  human  use  and  were  fed  to  the  fishes  in  the 
Ohio  river  by  wagon  loads.  Similar  conditions  all  over  the  coun- 
try resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  with 
branch  societies  in  almost  every  city  and  village. 

"In  response  to  a  call  from  the  Sanitary  Commission  of  the 
United  States  the  citizens  of  Decatur  met  in  the  Methodist  church 
on  the  evening  of  Nov.  18,  1861,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  into 
consideration  the  best  method  of  assisting  the  sick  and  wounded 
in  our  hospitals.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  report  upon  the 
subject  at  the  Baptist  church  the  next  day,  Nov.  19." 


iS7 


158  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

The  above  paragraph  is  an  extract  from  the  first  page  of  the 
"secretary's  book  of  the  Decatur  Soldiers'  Aid  Society,"  a  type- 
written copy  of  which  has  been  placed  at  my  disposal.  I  have 
decided  to  make  no  attempt  to  reproduce  this  book,  as  its  records 
are  so  meager  that  only  to  a  person  able,  through  memory,  to 
read  between  the  lines,  does  it  tell  any  story.  I  will  therefore 
use  its  data  to  confirm  my  recollections  and  tell  the  story  in  my 
own  way,  quoting  frequently  from  the  record. 

To  a  person  accustomed  to  the  orderly  manner  in  which 
women,  in  these  days,  conduct  public  meetings,  strictly  observ- 
ing parliamentary  rules  and  without  loss  of  modesty  or  self  re- 
spect speaking  in  public  places,  the  first  meeting  of  the  Hospital 
Aid  society  would  appear  almost  a  roaring  farce.  Women  only 
had  been  invited  to  attend  the  afternoon  meeting  at  the  Bap- 
tist church  and  it  is  probable  that  not  one  of  the  two  hundred 
who  were  present  had  ever  "stood  up  and  talked"  to  an  audi- 
ence. A  very  few,  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  have  been  edu- 
cated under  Mary  Lyons'  advanced  system,  had  received  some  les- 
sons in  parliamentary  law,  but  conventional  modesty  kept  them 
from  making  a  practical  use  of  their  knowledge. 

Each  woman,  as  she  entered  the  church,  quietly  took  her  seat 
in  the  pews  and  reverently  whispered  to  her  neighbor,  but  not 
one  -ventured  to  "open  the  meeting."  After  about  an  hour  of  this 
waiting  some  one  exclaimed  aloud :  "Hadn't  we  better  send  for 
Dr.  Barnes  to  tell  us  what  to  do?"  (Dr.  Barnes  had  presided  at 
the  initiatory  meeting). 

A  babel  of  objections  came  from  all  quarters  of  the  room. 
The  women  had  found  their  voices  and  all  talked  together,  each 
urging  some  one  else  to  "go  up  and  begin."  One  woman  finally 
ventured  to  go  to  the  front  and,  pounding  on  the  table  with  a 
hymn  book,  called  for  order,  and  asked,  "Won't  some  one  nomi- 
nate a  chairman  for  this  meeting?" 

Dead  silence  fell  upon  the'  audience  and  the  question  was  re- 
peated. After  more  whispering  and  some  giggling  at  the  incon- 
sistency of  having  a  chairman  for  a  woman's  meeting,  some  one 
called  out,  "Oh,  Mrs.  Johns, — you  do  it." 


AID  SOCIETY'S  BEGINNING  159 

"Did  I  hear  a  motion  that  Mrs.  Johns  take  the  chair?  Is  there 
a  second?"  Again  dead  silence. 

After  more  whispering  and  hunching  of  elbows,  a  timid  voice 
at  last  seconded  the  motion,  and  Mrs.  Johns  took  the  chair. 

"Ladies,  what  is  your  pleasure?  What  is  the  first  thing  in 
order?" 

A  voice  from  the  rear  of  the  church  announced,  "I  think  the 
first  thing  to  do  is  to  get  some  red  flannel  and  make  some  red 
flannel  drawers.  They  are  the  healthiest  thing  a  sick  man  can 
wear." 

The  chair  suggested  that  we  must  first  organize,  and  named 
Miss  Sarah  Powers  to  act  as  secretary. 

Previous  to  the  assembling  of  the  women  there  had  been 
placed  on  a  table  in  front  of  the  pulpit  a  written  communication 
from  the  committee  of  men,  who  had  been  appointed  the  even- 
ing before  to  "submit  a  plan  of  organization,  etc."  In  this  com- 
munication the  committee  "begged  leave  to  submit  the  follow- 
ing:" 

The  report  named  the  society  "The  Sick  and  Wounded  Sol- 
diers' Aid  Society  of  Decatur,"  and  recommended  a  constitution 
of  seven  articles,  one  of  which  provided  for  "the  election  from 
the  women  of  the  society  of  a  president,  vice-president,  secretary 
and  treasurer.  These,  with  three  gentlemen,  also  to  be  elected  by 
the  society,  were  to  constitute  an  executive  committee. 

This  report  was  read  by  the  secretary  and,  without  discussion, 
unanimously  adopted.  The  chair  appointed  a  committee  of  three 
to  report  names  to  be  voted  on  for  an  executive  committee. 

While,  waiting  for  the  report  of  the  nominating  committee  an 
informal  talking  fest  was  indulged  in.  Offers  of  old  linen  for 
lint,  old  sheets  for  bandages,  pillows,  towels,  slippers  and  shirts 
were  freely  made,  and  all  kinds  of  suggestions  for  making  money 
discussed. 

The  committee  reported  the  names  of : 

Mrs.  H.  C.  Johns,  president. 

Mrs.  Lockwood,  vice-president. 

Mrs.  Close,  treasurer. 


160  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

Dr.  Barnes,  Dr.  Johns  and  Mayor  E.  O.  Smith  were  named 
as  members  of  the  committee. 

These  officers  were  elected  by  acclamation.  "It  was  voted  to 
hold  a  festival  at  Powers  Hall  on  Thanksgiving  evening,  the 
proceeds  of  which  should  be  devoted  to  relieving  the  wants  of 
sick  and  wounded  soldiers  ;  a  committee  of  four  ladies  from  each 
ward  was  appointed  to  solicit  contributions  of  pillows,  cushions 
for  wounded  limbs,  socks,  yarn  for  knitting,  also  money  and  pro- 
visions for  the  festival,  and  the  meeting  adjourned." 

The  secretary's  book  minutely  records  meetings  of  the  exe- 
cutive committee  held  "at  the  residences  of  Mr.  A.  T.  Hill,  Mr. 
S.  F.  Greer,  Dr.  Curtis,  Mrs.  A.  A.  Powers  and  Mr.  Lockwood." 

(Observe  that  the  residence  was  always  that  of  "Mr. ,"  unless 

it  was  the  home  of  a  widow). 

At  the  meeting  on  Nov.  20,  "Dr.  Barnes  was  appointed  to 
correspond  with  the  agent  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  for  infor- 
mation;" *  *  *  "Mayor  Smith  was  commissioned  to  corres- 
pond with  the  surgeons  of  our  different  regiments  regarding  their 
needs."  *  *  *  "Dr.  Barnes  wrote  a  notice  of  the  Thanksgiv- 
ing festival  to  be  published  in  the  city  papers  by  order  of  the 
executive  committee." 

On  Nov.  25,  "reports  from  part  of  the  soliciting  committees 
were  received."  *  *  *  "Dr.  Johns  brought  in  two  lists  of  ar- 
ticles needed  for  hospitals,  one  from  Dr.  Trowbridge,  of  the 
Eighth,  and  one  from  Dr.  W.  J.  Chenoweth,  of  the  Thirty-fifth 
reg:ment,  Illinois  Volunteers."  *  *  *  "A  committee  of  three 

was  appointed  to  meet  at store  on  Monday,  the  25th  to  pack 

such  articles  as  might  be  sent  on  for  hospitals."  *  *  *  "Mayor 
Smith  was  authorized  to  procure  a  box  for  the  use  of  the  com- 
mittee." 

No  mention  is  made  of  the  festival,  which  was  probably  held 
on  the  28th. 

On  Nov.  30,  "A  committee  of  eight  directoresses  was  appoint- 
ed to  meet  at  the  Baptist  church  on  Dec.  4,  to  prepare  sewing  for 
ladies,  members  of  the  society."  *  *  *  "Dr.  Barnes  was  ap- 
pointed as  the  person  to  endorse  all  bills  of  indebtedness  against 
the  society  before  they  can  be  paid  by  the  treasurer." 


AID  SOCIETY'S  BEGINNING  161 

On  Dec.  4,  "At  a  meeting  of  the  executive  committee  with 
the  directoresses  (viz.  Mrs.  Greer,  Mrs.  Roberts,  Mrs.  A.  A. 
Powers,  Mrs.  Tanner,  Mrs.  Cantrell,  Mrs.  Ryan,  Mrs.  Hays  and 
Mrs.  Eliza  Evans)  the  place  of  meeting  for  Friday  was  changed 
from  the  room  over  Stratton  &  Hubbards  store  to  the  Odd  Fel- 
lows hall  over  Millikin  &  Oder's  bank  on  Bank  avenue.  It  was 
resolved  that  the  constitution  and  by-laws  of  this  society  should 
be  published.  By  a  majority  of  the  executive  committee  (at  the 
recommendation  of  the  president)  the  name  of  the  society  was 
changed  from  the  'sick  and  Wounded  Soldiers'  Aid  society'  to  the 
rtospital  Aid  society." 

On  Dec.  6,  the  society  met  in  Odd  Fellows  hall.  "Upon  the 
resignation  of  Miss  Sarah  Powers,  secretary  of  the  society,  Mrs. 
Anna  B.  Millikin  was  chosen  to  that  office." 

Dec.  9,  it  was  "Resolved  to  recommend  the  organization  of 
Hospital  Aid  societies  in  townships  in  which  they  are  not  already 
in  operation,  also  to  invite  the  cooperation  of  persons  or  societies 
in  d'fferent  townships."  It  was  "Resolved  that  the  executive  com- 
mittee meet  every  Friday  evening  in  Odd  Fellows  hall,  which  will 
be  open  from  nine  in  the  morning  through  the  day  and  evening 
for  the  use  of  the  society.  On  motion,  it  was  resolved  to  solicit 
the  following  articles  from  persons  in  the  county:  Flannel  for 
drawers  or  sheets,  hen  or  goose  feathers  and  skirts  of  old  flan- 
nel or  linsey." 

In  response  to  the  above  resolutions,  societies  were  organized 
in  Long  Creek,  Mt.  Zion,  Wheatland,  Harristown,  Hickory,  Ma- 
con,  Blue  Mound  and  Illini  townships.  Through  these  societies 
very  pleasant  social  relations  were  established  between  town  and 
country,  the  country  people  assisting  at  our  entertainments  and 
sending  their  carriages  to  take  town  guests  to  their  suppers,  con- 
certs, etc. 

Liberal  donations  were  received  from  the  country  for  almost 
every  shipment  made  by  the  parent  society.  Unfortunately,  no 
record  of  these  contributions  has  been  preserved. 

There  is  no  record  of  meetings  held  in  the  month  of  December 
(some  pages  of  the  book  are  missing).  On  January  10,  the  rec- 
ord reads : 


162  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

"Odd  Fellows  hall  being  considered  difficult  of  access  and  also 
a  constant  expense,  and  Mr.  Greer  having  kindly  tendered  his 
house  for  the  weekly  meetings  of  the  society,  it  was  'Resolved  that 
we  meet  hereafter  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Greer,  immediately  west  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  using  the  church,  by  permission,  for 
storing  our  articles.'  " 

A  sufficient  number  of  articles  to  fill  one  box  being  ready, 
Monday  next  was  appointed  for  the  packing.  The  secretary  was 
requested  to  ask  Mayor  Smith  to  procure  a  box  for  the  purpose. 
The  secretary  read  a  letter  from  Mr.  Gastman,  president  of  the 
Western  Sanitary  Commission,  giving  permission  "to  send  our 
charities  in  any  direction  we  may  desire." 

On  Jan.  13,  "Hospital  stores  have  been  sent  to  Rolla,  Paducah 
and  Cairo." 

"The  society  met  on  Jan.  17,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  S.  F.  Greer. 
The  president  stated  that  Mr.  William  Wert  Sykes  had  proposed 
through  Mr.  Mansfield  to  deliver  a  lecture  for  the  benefit  of  the 
aid  society  if  desired.  Terms,  ten  dollars  per  lecture  which  Mr. 
Mansfield  proposes  to  pay,  providing  the  proceeds  arising  from 
its  delivery  are  not  sufficient.  The  excess  (should  there  be  any) 
to  be  appropriated  at  the  discretion  of  the  society.  The  meeting 
adjourned." 

"The  society  met  on  Jan.  24.  On  consultation  with  the  pres- 
ident it  was  decided  to  be  unnecessary  for  the  secretary  to  notice 
every  meeting  of  the  society,  there  being  frequently  no  business 
of  importance  done." 

This  was  a  very  unfortunate  decision  which  resulted  in  the 
loss  of  much  valuable  historv. 


CHAPTER  V. 
A  BIG  MONTH'S  WORK. 

There  is  no  record  of  meetings  held  between  Jan.  31  and  Feb. 
28,  though  the  month  of  February,  1862,  was  undoubtedly  the 
most  eventful  in  the  history  of  the  Decatur  Hospital  Aid  society. 
On  the  fifteenth  day  of  that  month  the  battle  of  Fort  Donelson 
was  fought  and  won.  On  the  i6th  Governor  Yates  issued  a  proc- 
lamation calling  upon  the  women  of  the  state  to  "prepare  and 
send  to  the  front  hospital  supplies  of  clothing,  bedding,  lint  and 
bandages." 

From  a  second  story  window  of  the  court  house  John  More- 
land,  in  trumpet  tones,  proclaimed  the  news  and  asked  the  women 
of  Decatur  to  collect  all  the  old  table  cloths,  napkins,  sheets  and 
petticoats  they  could  possibly  spare  and  send  them  to  the  resi- 
dence of  Judge  Greer  where  the  Aid  society  was  requested  to 
meet  at  once,  every  woman  bringing  with  her  a  case  knife  and 
pair  of  scissors. 

Before  noon  every  nook  and  corner  of  Judge  Greer's  resi- 
dence was  filled  with  eager  women,  sorting  rags,  scraping  lint 
and  rolling  bandages. 

There  were  2,108  wounded  soldiers  waiting  for  help  on  the 
field  of  Donelson.  Dr.  Ira  Curtis  and  Dr.  H.  C.  Johns  had 
volunteered  under  the  governor's  call  to  go  to  the  relief  of  their 
army  of  sufferers  and  "rush  work"  was  done  to  furnish  them 
with  supplies  to  take  with  them.  Dr.  William  Barnes  and  Dr. 
Moore  spent  the  day  in  assisting  and  instructing  hundreds  of 
women  in  the  art  of  scraping  lint  and  rolling  bandages.  Some 
few  took  home  their  work,  but  the  gregarious  nature  that  de- 
mands human  sympathy  and  human  touch  in  time  of  trouble 
compelled  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  women  to  seek  companion- 
ship and  sympathy,  sitting  on  the  crowded  floor  while  they  talked 
and  wept  and  scraped  lint. 

163 


164  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

In  a  few  hours  a  barrel  of  bandages  and  several  large  boxes 
of  lint  were  ready  for  our  departing  surgeons  to  take  with  them 
when  they  joined  Governor  Yates'  party  at  the  depot  that  evening. 

For  nearly  a  week  Mrs.  Greer's  house  was  the  work  shop  of 
the  town.  Following  the  first  day's  supplies,  shirts  and  drawers 
were  made  as  fast  as  the  devoted  band  of  directors  could  cut  out 
and  distribute  them.  There  were  only  two  or  three  sewing 
machines  in  town,  but  they  were  put  into  use  and  the  work  did 
not  cease  until  every  yard  of  muslin  available  and  every  inch  of 
old  linen  that  could  be  found  had  been  converted  into  hospital 
stores. 

This  week  of  intense  excitement  and  hard  work  is  thus  re- 
corded in  the  secretary's  book  of  the  Hospital  Aid  Society : 

Late  battles  in  the  west  increasing  the  demand  for  hospital  stores,  the 
society  met  on  Tuesday,  Feb.  18,  after  an  adjournment  of  six  weeks.  The 
meetings  were  continued  through  this  week  and  a  box  containing  the  fol- 
lowing articles  were  packed :  Drawers,  30  pairs ;  slippers,  6l/2  pairs ;  arm 
pads,  12;  shirts,  45;  sheets,  43;  pillow  cases,  33;  pillows,  2;  rolls  of  band- 
ages, 112;  mosquito  bars,  Mrs.  Smallwood,  6.  This  box  was  sent  to  the 
Sanitary  Commission  at  St.  Louis. 

No  report  was  made  of  a  large  box  of  delicacies,  wine  and 
cordials,  that  was  sent  in  care  of  Dr.  Curtis,  nor  of  the  barrel  of 
bandages  and  boxes  of  lint  the  surgeons  had  taken  with  them. 

On  his  arrival  at  Cairo  Dr.  Johns  reported  to  the  society  that 
he  had  been  assigned  to  the  "City  of  Alton,"  a  steamer  with  300 
wounded  men  on  board,  who  were  to  be  sent  to  the  St.  Louis 
hospital.  He  urgently  requested  that  shirts  and  drawers  be  sent 
him  at  St.  Louis  as  fast  as  the  society  could  possibly  manufacture 
them,  and  it  was  to  him,  in  care  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  that 
the  box  above  mentioned  was  sent.  So  urgent  was  the  demand 
for  these  goods  that  the  directors  worked  all  day  Sunday  pre- 
paring work  for  Monday's  meeting.  The  most  of  the  work  on  the 
second  week  was  taken  to  the  homes  of  the  workers,  but  Mrs. 
Greer's  house  was  still  used  as  headquarters. 

When  every  cent  in  the  treasury  had  been  expended,  every 
available  yard  of  muslin  made  into  hospital  garments,  every  inch 
of  old  linen  scraped  into  lint,  when  the  boxes  were  packed  and 


A  BIG  MONTH'S  WORK  165 

expressed  to  their  destination,  the  Hospital  Aid  society  rested 
from  its  labors. 

It  had  become  self  evident  that  a  private  house  was  no  longer 
a  convenient  place  for  meetings  and  that  the  treasury  of  the 
society  needed  replenishing,  so  a  business  meeting  was  called 
for  Feb.  28.  The  minutes  of  that  meeting  read : 

The  Masonic  hall  was  tendered  us  free  of  charge  for  our  meetings. 
Hereafter  they  will  be  held  in  that  place,  the  home  of  I.  B.  Curtis  being 
so  far  from  the  business  part  of  town,  it  would  be  inconvenient  in  many 
respects.  At  the  close  of  the  week  the  fund  in  the  treasury  is  found  to  be 
exhausted  and  the  society  a  few  dollars  in  debt.  A  meeting  was  therefore 
called  by  the  president,  Mrs.  H.  C.  Johns,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  James  Mil- 
likin,  to  complete  arrangements  for  a  "concert  and  tableaux,"  which  had 
been  proposed  as  a  suitable  manner  in  which  to  replenish  the  treasury. 

It  was  resolved  to  return  thanks  to  Mrs.  Greer  for  the  use  of  her 
house  for  the  regular  meetings  since  Jan.  17. 

This  is  the  only  mention  in  the  record  of  the  presentation  to 
Mrs.  Greer  of  a  beautiful  family  Bible,  but  Mrs.  Hattie  Abbott, 
a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Greer,  who  now  owns  the  Bible,  has  preserved 
a  mutilated  newspaper  clipping  which  tells  the  story  after  this 
manner : 

The  ladies  of  the  Hospital  Aid  society  a  few  days  ago  presented  Mrs. 
S.  F.  Greer  with  a  beautiful  copy  of  the  Holy  Bible,  in  testimony  of  their 
high  appreciation  of  her  zeal  in  the  good  work.  The  following  note  ac- 
companied the  gift : 

Decatur,  February  28,  1862. 
Mrs.  Greer : 

Will  you  accept  from  your  sister  laborers  in  the  cause  of  the  country 
and  humanity  this  slight  memento  of  the  pleasant  days  recently  spent 
beneath  your  roof?  In  after  years,  when  you  shall  recount  to  your  chil- 
dren the  tale  of  the  dark  days  of  trial  and  affliction,  brought  upon  the 
country  by  the  acts  of  traitors,  you  will  also  remind  them  that  the  precepts 
of  this  Holy  Book,  acting  upon  the  hearts  of  the  women  of  the  country 
caused  many  an  aching  heart  to  leap  with  joy  and  left  ONE  bright  spot 
amid  the  general  gloom. 

Believing  that  it  will  be  received  in  the  same  spirit  of  love  and  respect 
with  which  it  is  given,  and  accompanied  by  their  hearty  thanks  for  the 
efforts  she  has  made  for  their  comfort  as  well  as  for  the  efficiency  of  their 
labors,  this  Bible  is  presented  to  Mrs.  Greer  by  the  ladies  of  the  Hospital 
Aid  Society. 

Mrs.  Greer's  reply : 

Ladies  of  the  Hospital  Aid  Society : 

It  is  with  pleasure  I  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  invaluable  present 
and  accompanying  note.  I  herewith  tender  you  my  sincere  thanks  for  the 
kind  expression  you  have  been  pleased  to  manifest  towards  me.  What 


1 66  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

The  remainder  of  Mrs.  Greer's  reply  is  unfortunately  lost, 
but  I  remember  it  as  a  beautiful  tribute  to  the  patriotism  of  the 
women  of  Decatur. 

In  the  minutes  of  that  meeting  it  was  recorded  that : 

"It  was  resolved  to  return  thanks  to  the  directoresses  who  have  labored 
so  faithfully  in  the  cause."  It  was  "Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the 
society  be  tendered  Mrs.  Ira  B.  Curtis  for  the  offer  of  her  house  for  future 
meetings." 

(Observe  that  Mrs. is  beginning  to  be  recognized 

as  mistress  of  the  house.) 

"The  society  was  presented  with  five  dollars  by  William  Wirt  Sykes 
(probably  the  excess  over  ten  dollars  received  from  the  lecture)." 

The  record  further  reads,  "The  labors  of  the  society  are  closed  for 
the  present.  Should  there  be  a  necessity  hereafter,  it  is  believed  the  ladies 
of  the  city  will  return  with  alacrity  to  the  work. 

At  the  called  meeting  at  Mr.  Millikin's,  "The  ladies  voted  on 
and  decided  to  have  two  refreshment  tables.  Refreshments  to  be 
served  at  the  close  of  the  concert  and  tableaux."  Committees 
were  appointed  to  attend  to  the  tables,  advertise  the  entertain- 
ment and  solicit  supplies. 

This  concert  was  under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  Louis  Bunn 
and  Mr.  George  Wessels.  The  tableaux  were  arranged  by  Mrs. 
Livingston,  Mrs.  Bell  and  others.  The  avails  of  the  concert 
and  tableaux  are  reported:  Friday  evening,  April  25,  at  $136.65 
and  Saturday  evening,  April  26,  at  $45. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
SOLDIERS'  FAMILIES  DESTITUTE. 

In  the  preceeding  chapter  I  have  quoted  verbatim  from  the 
"secretary's  book,"  but  I  find  it  very  tedious  work,  both  for  my- 
self and  my  reader  to  accurately  quote  that  which  tells  so  little. 
In  telling  the  rest  of  my  story  I  will  not  confine  myself  closely  to 
the  text. 

Almost  immediately  after  the  organization  of  the  society  it 
was  found  that  hospital  aid  was  but  an  infinitesimal  part  of  the 
work  that  our  hands  had  found  to  do.  The  first  general  meeting 
of  this  society  was  called  to  decorate  Powers  hall  for  the  Thanks- 
giving festival.  While  at  work  some  one  remarked,  "I  wish  that 
part  of  the  money  we  make  at  the  festival  could  be  used  for  the 
destitute  families  of  soldiers." 

Another  asked,  "Couldn't  we  do  something  to  provide  some 
soldier's  children  with  a  Thanksgiving  dinner?" 

Then  story  after  story  was  told  of  the  destitution  in  soldiers' 
families.  Some  regiments  had  not  been  paid  since  their  enlist- 
ment and  the  money  left  at  home  for  the  support  of  soldiers' 
families  had  been  spent.  Cold  weather  was  causing  much  suffer- 
ing and  the  demand  for  some  relief  was  imperative. 

The  money  derived  from  the  Thanksgiving  festival  could  not 
be  diverted  from  the  advertised  purpose  but  some  way  must  be 
found  to  help  the  soldiers'  children  to  a  happy  Christmas. 

Decatur  was  noted  for  its  musical  talent  and  a  concert  was 
suggested.  Amanda  Montgomery  (Mrs.  Wessels),  who  was  on 
a  steplaclder  tacking  up  decorations,  volunteered  to  go  at  once  and 
"see  George,"  and  through  him  secure  the  cooperation  of  other 
musicians. 

She  was  gone  about  an  hour  and  came  back  exclaiming, 
"Don't  fret,  Mrs.  's  children  shall  have  a  Christmas  din- 
ner. Mr.  Burrows  and  Lou  Bunn  have  both  promised  to  help 

167 


1 68  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

George  get  up  a  concert."  She  was  received  with  cheers  and 
preparations  for  Thanksgiving  almost  lost  their  interest  in  plan- 
ing for  Christmas. 

The  newspapers  of  the  city  entered  heartily  into  the  project 
and  advertised  it  freely.  A  call  for  "a  meeting  of  musicians  to 
organize  a  musical  society,"  was  responded  to  by  about  one  hun- 
dred amateurs  and  the  Decatur  Musical  Union  was  organized. 
Two  concerts  were  advertised  for  the  second  week  in  December, 
one  for  the  "benefit  of  the  poor  and  one  for  the  Musical  Union." 

Both  entertainments  were  successes  and  then  the  question 
arose,  "who  is  to  disburse  this  fund  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor." 
The  treasurer  of  the  union  placed  the  money  in  the  bank  to  the 
credit  of  the  Hospital  Aid  society  and  that  society  solved  the 
problem  by  organizing  within  its  own  ranks,  "the  Decatur  Relief 
society,"  and  electing  Mrs.  Lowber  Burrows  president,  Mrs.  H. 
C.  Johns  secretary,  and  Mayor  E.  O.  Smith  treasurer. 

The  primary  object  of  those  who  had  originated  the  concert 
had  been  "to  give  a  good  Christmas  to  our  soldiers'  children." 
Education  through  play  and  pleasure  had  not  at  that  early  date 
assumed  the  importance  it  has  since  attained,  and  serious  objec- 
tions were  raised  to  "wasting  money  for  nonsense."  It  would 
all  be  needed  for  "wood  and  shoes  and  something  to  eat  before 
the  winter  was  over."  This  difficulty  was  overcome  by  enlisting  a 
bevy  of  young  girls  to  work  for  the  "Children's  Christmas  Fes- 
tival." The  Misses  Isabelle  Peddecord,  Josephine  Stamper,  Jane 
McClellan,  Marcella  Greer,  Anna  Hargis,  Myra  Powers  and  oth- 
ers canvassed  the  town  for  second  hand  clothing,  shoes  and  toys, 
while  their  mothers  agreed  to  provide  the  dinner.  The  township 
societies  were  enlisted  and  turkeys,  chickens,  eggs  and  butter 
came  from  the  country.  All  the  soldiers'  children  in  the  county 
were  invited,  and  Powers  hall,  free  of  charge,  was  turned  over  to 
the  children  for  Christmas  day.  To  prevent  charges  of  par- 
tiality the  toys  were  all  placed  in  a  fish  pond  behind  a  curtain  and 
fished  for  by  the  children. 

The  very  liberal  donations  of  old  clothes  were  stored  in  a 
small  room  over  Stratton  and  Hubbard's  store  where  they  were 


SOLDIERS'  FAMILIES  DESTITUTE  169 

given  out  for  the  asking  by  a  committee  appointed  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

For  more  than  thirty  years  the  Decatur  Relief  society  under 
the  same  president  and  secretary  continued  to  receive  donations 
of  old  clothes  on  Thanksgiving  day  and  to  give  an  annual  charity 
ball.  Guided  by  that  charity  that  thinketh  no  evil  and  utterly 
unacquainted  with  the  principles  of  scientific  charity,  they,  with 
the  best  intentions  in  the  world,  continued  in  the  manufacture  of 
paupers  until  they  discovered  that  they  had  five  generations  of 
degenerates  to  their  credit.  They  then  made  an  attempt  to  undo 
some  of  the  evils  they  were  responsible  for  by  organizing  an 
"Associated  Charities,"  which  included  in  its  membership  every 
church  and  lodge  in  the  city  and  which  failed  because  it  fell  into 
the  hands  of  officers  who  neither  understood  its  object  nor  sym- 
pathized with  its  ends. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
GREAT  MUSICAL  ORGANIZATION. 

The  Decatur  Musical  Union,  which  had  its  inception  in  a 
Christmas  festival  for  soldiers'  children,  was  organized  in  De- 
cember, 1 86 1,  with: 

President,  Lowber  Burrows. 

Vice  President,  Dr.  William  Barnes. 

Secretary,  J.  R.  Mosser. 

Treasurer,  W.  T.  Edmundson. 

Musical  Director,  George  F.  Wessels. 

Pianist,  Miss  Mattie  Cass. 

Ten  days  after  its  organization  the  society  gave  two  concerts, 
one  for  "the  benefit  of  the  poor,"  and  the  other  "to  pay  the  rent 
of  a  hall  and  piano  and  to  purchase  music  for  the  use  of  the 
Musical  Union."  The  object  of  the  society  was  "to  bring  together 
the  musical  talent  of  Decatur  for  educational  and  charitable  pur- 
poses." 

For  more  than  twenty  years  this  organization  was  the  chief 
source  of  revenue  for  Decatur  charities.  Its  members  loved  to 
sing  and  they  loved  to  act.  They  sang  well  and  acted  well ;  were 
well  costumed  and  well  drilled;  studied  their  parts  with  intelli- 
gence and  cultivated  harmony  in  their  choruses,  under  capable 
instructors  with  critical  ears.  They  gave  freely  of  the  best  they 
could  do  for  t:he  joy  of  doing  it  and  to  help  the  needy. 

It  may  be  that  my  recollection  of  their  oratorios,  cantatas, 
concerts  and  tableaux  is  influenced  by  the  glamor  of  years  that 
are  past,  but  I  can  confidently  say  with  George  Wessels  that  it 
was  "the  greatest  organization  of  the  kind  ever  formed.  There 
never  was  another  town  that  had  a  Musical  Union  like  the  old 
one  in  Decatur.  They  were  fine  men  and  girls ;  they  could  sing 
and  they  did  and  they  had  a  jolly  time.  There  will  never  be 
another  like  it." 

1       170 


GREAT  MUSICAL  ORGANIZATION  171 

Mr.  Wessels  has  made  music  his  profession  for  years.  He  has 
heard  the  best  music  of  Europe  and  America  and  that  is  his 
verdict.* 

As  long  as  Mr.  Wessels  lived  in  Decatur  the  Musical  Union 
had  a  director  who  gave  time,  talent  and  enthusiasm  to  its  success. 
He  had  a  splendid  bass  voice  and  was  always  willing  to  sing  in 
solo,  duo,  quartet,  or  chorus,  had  no  jealousies,  no  axes  to  grind, 
no  selfish  ends  to  gain.  When  the  Union  lost  Mr.  Wessels,  it 
lost  its  breath  of  life  and,  though  many  of  its  members  continued 
to  give  their  personal  work  to  social  and  charitable  entertain- 
ments, the  Union  was  no  more. 

The  society  met  every  Tuesday  evening  and  gave  about  six 
entertainments  a  year.  There  were  many  remarkably  good  voices 
in  this  aggregation  of  musical  and  dramatic  talent.  Mr.  J.  R. 
Mosser's  remarkable  baritone  is  remembered  by  every  one  who 
ever  heard  him  sing.  The  Barneys,  father  and  son,  would  have 
been  a  credit  to  any  company  of  concert  singers.  A.  P.  Griswokl 
and  L.  L.  Ferris  were  tenors  that  are  remembered  with  pleasure, 
while  Joseph  Ehrhard,  George  Patterson,  Mr.  Babcock  and  M.  A. 
Myer  had  good  bass  voices.  Until  after  her  marriage  to  Mr. 
Rockwell,  Pet  Bunn  (Miss  Mary  Elizabeth  Bunn)  was  the  lead- 
ing soprano. 

Later  Miss  Sallie  Moore  (Mrs.  George  R.  Steele)  and  Miss 
Alida  Suits  (Mrs.  Lewis  Cass)  took  the  leading  soprano  roles. 

Mrs.  Burgess,  Mrs.  Strong  and  Mrs.  Wessels  had  fine  con- 
tralto voices. 

The  members  of  the  orchestra  were: 

Pianist,  Miss  Molly  Masterson  (Mrs.  Edmundson). 

First  violin,  Henry  Ebert. 

Flute,  Dr.  E.  S.  Jones. 

Harp,  Mr.  Jordan. 

'Cello,  Ben  Davis. 

Double  bass  viol,  Albert  Condell. 

Mr.  Lowber  Burrows  was  always  stage  director  with  Dr.  W. 
Barnes  as  assistant.  Mrs.  Annie  Livingston  and  Miss  Star  Mans- 

*From  the   Decatur  Review  of  Feb.  4,  1905. 


172  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

field  (Mrs.  G.  M.  Bruce  of  San  Jose,  Cal.,)  were  geniuses  in 
costuming. 

Mr.  D.  L.  Bunn,  who  for  more  than  fifty  years  sung  his  way 
into  the  hearts  of  Decatur  people,  had  a  tenor  voice  that  I  never 
heard  surpassed.  His  tones  were  soft,  sweet  and  clear  as  a  flute 
and  he  enunciated  every  word  effectively.  Had  he  gone  on  the 
stage  I  have  no  doubt  he  would  have  won  world  wide  fame.  For 
years  he  sang  in  choirs  and  for  funerals  as  well  as  for  social  and 
charitable  entertainments  without  money  and  without  price,  but 
the  demand  for  his  services  became  so  burdensome  that,  in  self 
defense,  he  was  compelled  to  join  a  professional  choir. 

The  name  of  D.  L.  Bunn  is  endeared  to  thousands  of  Decatur 
citizens  by  the  memory  of  his  sweet  tones  in  "The  Last  Sad 
Requiem  for  Their  Dead." 

I  once  met  him  in  Greenwood  cemetery,  wandering  among  the 
graves,  and,  in  answer  to  a  question,  he  said,  "I  believe  I  must 
have  sung  at  the  funerals  of  two  thirds  of  the  people  who  are 
sleeping  here.  Some  of  them  were  buried  fifty  years  ago  and 
some  yesterday." 

Mr.  Bunn  inherited  his  splendid  voice  from  his  father,  who 
was  a  singer  and  teacher  of  music.  Mr.  Bunn  on  July  21,  1864, 
married  Miss  Amanda  Suits,  who,  with  her  sisters,  was  one  of 
the  original  members  of  the  Musical  Union.  His  children,  Miss 
Edna  Bunn  and  Frank  Bunn,  inherit  from  their  father  well 
known  musical  ability. 

There  are  only  a  few  programs  of  the  entertainments  of  the 
Musical  Union  extant.  In  addition  to  the  more  pretentious  ora- 
torios, given  in  costume,  they  gave  a  great  many  popular  concerts. 
A  quartet  of  their  number  could  always  be  secured  to  sing  patri- 
otic, war  songs  and  negro  melodies  at  every  social  held  by  the 
Hospital  Aid  society.  "The  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic," 
"Tramp,  Tramp,  the  Boys  are  Marching,"  "The  Red,  White  and 
Blue,"  "Marching  Through  Georgia,"  were  supplemented  by 
"Massa's  in  the  Cold,  Cold  Ground,"  "Down  in  the  Cornfield," 
"Old  Shady"  and  other  popular  negro  melodies  of  the  day,  and 
the  audience  invariably  joined  in  the  chorus. 

Many  old  citizens  will  unite  with  The  Review  in  affirming 


GREAT  MUSICAL  ORGANIZATION  173 

that  "the  performances  of  the  Decatur  Musical  Union  were  not 
tiresome  and  amateurish  affairs.  People  went  to  hear  the  singing 
and  then  they  went  the  second  night.  The  week  the  first  State 
Fair  was  held  in  Decatur  the  Musical  Union  gave  four  perform- 
ances, all  to  crowded  houses.  After  paying  all  expenses  (and 
donating  ten  per  cent  to  the  Relief  Society)  they  had  money 
enough  to  buy  a  Chickering  piano  without  exhausting  the  treas- 
ury." 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  story  of  the  Jews  in  Babylon,  as 
told  in  music,  has  been  given  in  Decatur  in  different  forms  and 
by  different  composers  at  least  ten  times  within  my  recollection. 
The  sacred  cantata,  "Esther,  the  Beautiful  Queen,"  by  W.  B. 
Bradbury,  was  first  produced  by  a  "choral  society"  in  1856,  not 
long  after  the  opening  of  Powers  hall.  Miss  Mary  E.  Bunn  sang 
the  role  of  the  queen  and  almost  all  the  other  performers  were 
afterwards  members  of  the  Musical  Union.  This  cantata  was 
reproduced  in  1861. 

An  "Oratorio  of  Esther,"  another  version  of  the  same  story, 
was  given  twice,  once  in  1864  and  once  as  late  as  1871.  "Daniel, 
a  Sacred  Cantata,"  was  given  Jan.  20,  1863,  "for  the  benefit  of 
the  poor,"  and  a  few  nights  later  repeated  for  the  hospital  fund. 
On  Thursday  evening,  March  3,  1864,  there  was  given  in  Powers 
hall  the  grand  dramatic  cantata  of  "Belshazzar's  Feast,"  in  ten 
scenes  in  appropriate  costume  under  the  direction  of  G.  F.  Wes- 
sels,  assisted  by  a  new  orchestra  with  new  and  splendid  scenery, 
painted  especially  for  the  occasion.  The  hall  was  so  crowded 
the  first  night  that  the  cantata  was  repeated  on  Friday. 

"Esther"  was  once  given  for  the  benefit  of  St.  John's  Epis- 
copal church  at  Smith's  opera  house  and  on  April  23,  24  and  25, 
1874,  "The  Court  of  Babylon"  was  rendered  by  about  seventy-five 
of  the  best  singers  in  the  city  under  the  direction  of  the  Baker 
family,  "travelling  promoters."  Mrs.  W.  C.  Armstrong  was  cast 
as  queen  while  Mrs.  Burgess,  Pugh  Gorin,  Benton  Blackstone  and 
C.  C.  McComas  had  prominent  parts  and  the  chorus  was  com- 
posed entirely  of  Decatur  citizens.  Rev.  W.  N.  McElroy 
preached  on  the  subject  of  "Belshazzar's  Feast"  and  the  downfall 
of  Babylon  on  Sunday  evening,  April  19.  The  dramatic  interest 


174  THE  CIV*L  WAR 

in  the  Babylonish  captivity  seems  to  have  come  down  to  the  pres- 
ent day  for  "Ahasuerus"  attracted  large  audiences  at  Power's 
opera  house  as  late  as  the  spring  of  1912,  when  it  was  given  three 
times  under  the  direction  of  Miss  Hall,  the  supervisor  of  Music 
for  the  Decatur  schools,  by  Decatur  talent,  assisted  by  hundreds 
of  school  children. 

I  will  reproduce  a  part  of  two  of  the  old  programs,  for  they 
possess  an  intrinsic  interest  of  their  own. 

"Belshazzar's  Feast"  was  given  Thursday  evening,  March  3, 
1864.  It  was  advertised  as  a  "Grand  dramatic  cantata  in  ten 
scenes,  in  appropriate  costume  by  the  Decatur  Musical  Union, 
under  the  direction  of  G.  F.  Wessels  and  assisted  by  a  new 
orchestra  with  new  and  splendid  scenery  painted  expressly  for 
the  occasion."  Admission  cards  cost  fifty  cents.  The  doors  were 
open  at  half-past  six  and  the  curtain  rose  at  8  o'clock. 

The  cast  of  the  leading  characters  was  as  follows : 

Belshazzar,  King  of  Babylon (Base)  G.  F.  Wessels 

Nitocris,  Queen (Soprano)  Miss  Sallie  Moore 

Daniel ( (Tenor)  A.  P.  Griswold 

Jewish  Maiden (Contralto)  Mrs.  Burgess 

Hananiah ( (Tenor)  J.  R.  Mosser 

Lord  of  the  Court. ., (Tenor)  M.  A.  Myer 

Lady  of  the  Court (Alto)  Mrs.  Wessels 

Chaldean  High  Priest (Baritone)  J.  J.  Strong 

Jewish  men  and  maidens,  companions  to  Daniel,  full  chorus 
of  Jews,  Chaldeans  and  soldiers  composed  the  rest  of  the  com- 
pany. 

"Daniel,  or  the  Captivity  and  Restoration,"  a  sacred  cantata, 
was  given  Thursday  evening,  Nov.  20,  1863,  in  costume,  by  the 
Decatur  Musical  Union,  for  the  "benefit  of  the  poor."  Tickets 
sold  at  the  usual  price  of  50  cents  but  the  performance  opened 
half  an  hour  earlier  than  "Belshazzar's  Feast."  The  principal 
characters  follow : 

Queen Miss  Sallie  Moore 

Sister  of  Azariah Miss  Alida  Suits 

Azariah Mr.  D.  L.  Bunn 

Daniel .  .  . .  Mr.  L.  Burrows 


GREAT  MUSICAL  ORGANIZATION  175 

King Mr:  Geo.  F.  Wessels 

Herald Mr.  J.  R.  Mosser 

Baritone  Solo Mr.  J.  A.  Barney 

There  were  a  chorus  of  princes,  chorus  of   Israelites  and 
Persians,  and  other  singers. 

On  the  back  of  this  program  is  this  announcement : 
"In  rehearsal  for  next  concert,  the  grand  historic  cantata  of 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers !" 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
GRIM  WAR  COMES  HOME. 

After  Donelson  and  its  exciting  events,  the  Decatur  Hospital 
Aid  Society  adjourned.  For  two  months  we  had  spent  one  day 
in  every  week  "sewing  for  soldiers,"  then  for  ten  days  we  had 
exhausted  our  energies  as  well  as  our  exchequer,  in  emergency 
work  for  the  hospitals.  Our  boxes  of  stores  were  packed  and 
gone;  we  had  done  what  we  could  and  were  entitled  to  a  rest 
from  our  labors;  so  the  secretary's  book  records  under  date  of 
February  28:  "The  labors  of  the  society  are  closed  for  the 
present.  Should  there  be  a  necessity  hereafter  it  is  believed  that 
the  ladies  of  the  society  will  return  with  alacrity  to  the  work." 

There  is  no  record  of  any  other  meeting  till  Friday,  May  2, 
an  interval  of  two  months  during  which  time  the  women  of  De- 
catur found  that  they  had  a  distinctive  work  to  do;  work  which 
brought  them  into  intimate  touch  with  the  realities  of  war. 

The  battle  of  Belmont,  the  siege  of  Fort  Henry,  and  the  pre- 
paratory march  on  Fort  Donelson,  had  filled  every  available  hos- 
pital and  almost  every  available  house  in  the  vicinity  of  Paducah, 
and  between  there  and  Fort  Donelson,  so  all  convalescent  and 
wounded  men,  able  to  travel,  were  ordered  north,  either  on  fur- 
lough or  to  less  crowded  hospitals. 

We  were  first  awakened  to  the  magnitude  of  the  new  work 
our  hands  had  found  to  do,  when  about  noon  one  day  in  March 
Mr.  Slaughter  of  the  Depot  hotel,  sent  a  boy  on  horseback  to  me 
with  the  following  note : 

"I  have  just  received  a  telegram  from  the  sanitary  agent  at 
Cairo  that  on  the  five  twenty  train  this  evening  there  are  about 
fifty  hungry,  sick,  and  wounded  soldiers,  who  will  be  given  thirty 
minutes  for  supper  at  the  station.  I  have  notified  Mrs.  Hays, 
Mrs.  Winholtz  and  Mrs.  Greer.  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to 
help  the  Aid  Society  feed  these  men,  but  as  my  force  will  have 

176 


GRIM  WAR  COMES  HOME  177 

all  they  can  do  to  serve  the  regular  supper  to  other  passengers,  I 
must  have  help.  Please  report  as  soon  as  possible." 

"Old  Billy"  was  hitched  up  and  I  reported. 

Messenger  boys  (we  had  no  telephones)  were  sent  all  over 
town  asking  housekeepers  to  send  "Baskets  of  food  for  sick 
soldiers,"  to  the  depot  at  five  o'clock.  We  borrowed  tin  cups 
from  the  stores,  bought  two  pounds  of  genuine  coffee,  and  Mrs. 
Hays  browned  and  ground  it.  Mr.  Slaughter  had  boiling  water 
ready  and  loaned  us  a  big  coffee  boiler. 

When  five  o'clock  came,  there  were  twenty  or  thirty  women 
on  the  platform  waiting  for  the  train.  Baskets  of  hot  buttered 
biscuits,  cold  meats,  pies,  cakes  and  pickles,  with  gallons  of  milk 
and  cream,  were  ready  for  the  supper.  A  telegram  had  been  sent 
to  Centralia,  requesting  soldiers  not  to  leave  their  seats  when  the 
train  reached  Decatur. 

When  the  car  drew  up  to  the  platform,  the  men  in  the  soldiers 
car  crowded  to  the  windows  and  to  the  platforms  and  gave  "three 
cheers  for  Decatur."  As  soon  as  they  could  be  induced  to  resume 
their  seats  two  women,  with  baskets  of  tin  cups  passed  down  the 
aisle  followed  by  two  others  with  big  pots  of  coffee,  and  others 
with  buckets  of  milk;  cream  and  sugar  followed,  and  then  the 
baskets  of  delicious  food  were  passed  to  each  man. 

Every  woman  insisted  on  passing  her  own  basket.  Mrs. 
Peddecord  had  baked  a  hundred  of  her  famous  sour-cream  bis- 
cuits, Mrs.  Race  had  made  fifty  sandwiches,  Mrs.  Ryan  had  a 
bucket  of  pickles,  Mrs.  Oglesby,  a  big  basket  of  doughnuts,  which 
Mrs.  White  had  fried.  Some  one,  I  wish  I  could  remember  who, 
brought  a  jar  of  pickled  peaches,  "enough  to  go  around  twice." 
Laura  Allen's  basket  of  red  winter  apples  was  "the  last  we  had 
and  just  fifty  of  them."  In  other  baskets  there  was  food  enough 
for  every  man  to  eat  his  fill,  and  the  fragments  were  given  to  the 
commissary,  for  another  time. 

Pale,  emaciated,  half  starved  and  dishevelled,  the  men  met  us 
with  apologies  for  their  appearance,  smoothed  down  their  hair 
with  their  fingers,  and  tried  to  hide  the  dirty  rags  that  covered 
their  wounds. 

It  was  a  sight  to  make  angels  weep,  and  as  we  passed  down 


178  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

the  aisles,  almost  every  woman  "had  to  stop  a  minute  to  blubber," 
before  she  could  pass  on  with  her  basket  of  "goodies."  Some 
who  were  brave  enough  to  finish  their  task  without  tears,  sat 
down  on  the  edge  of  the  platform,  as  soon  as  they  reached  the 
open  air  and  hiding  their  faces  in  their  arms,  sobbed  aloud. 

One  little  incident:  As  Mrs.  Eliza  Evans,  (an  aunt  of  Mrs. 
Theron  Powers)  passed  her  tin  cups,  one  man  took  two,  and 
said: 

"I  guess  I  will  have  to  feed  my  comrade  first  and  then  eat 
my  own  supper." 

"Oh  no;  let  me  feed  him,"  said  Mrs.  Evans,  and  she  passed 
her  basket  of  cups  to  Mattie  Wells,  and  took  off  her  cloak.  A. 
handsome  young  fellow,  who  looked  about  twenty,  had  been 
"scalded  when  the  rebels  shot  a  hole  through  the  boiler  of  the 
Essex  at  Fort  Henry."  Both  his  hands  were  bandaged  and  2. 
pillow  for  his  foot  had  been  improvised  from  his  blanket.  He 
was  "going  home  for  mother  to  nurse."  Mrs.  Evans  fed  him  as 
she  would  a  baby,  and  jokingly  talked  baby  talk  as  she  did  it. 
When  he  had  "all  he  tud  eat,"  she  poured  some  water  on  her 
handkerchief,  and  washed  his  face. 

"Thank  you,  that  is  just  the  way  my  mother  will  do  it  when 
I  get  home — and  then  she  will  kiss  me." 

Mrs.  Evans  stooped  and  kissed  him  on  his  lips  and — fled  in 
tears. 

This  was  only  the  beginning.  For  months,  "feeding  the  sol- 
diers at  the  depot"  had  all  the  dramatic  interest  of  a  theater,  to 
which  the  admission  fee  was  a  dish  of  fried  chicken,  or  some 
other  "dainty  bit,  to  set  before  a  king." 

The  first  mention  of  this  work  on  the  record  is  dated  on  Fri- 
day, May  23.  "Hall  opened  at  nine  o'clock.  The  president  called 
the  meeting  to  order  at  three.  Sick  and  wounded  soldiers  passing 
through  this  place  on  their  way  home  have  heretofore  been  fed 
by  the  hospitality  of  the  citizens.  In  this  way  there  has  some- 
times been  a  greater  amount  of  food  than  is  necessary,  and  some- 
times the  supply  is  not  sufficient.  It  has  been  thought  best  to 
make  a  different  arrangement.  Therefore, 

"Resolved,  To  set  apart  $17  to  be  appropriated  to  relieving  the 


GRIM  WAR  COMES  HOME  179 

hunger  of  sick  soldiers  passing  through  out  city,  and  that  a  com- 
mittee be  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  fund,  see  that  it  is  prop- 
erly expended  and  attend  regularly  at  the  depot." 

No  other  mention  is  made  of  this  work,  except  in  the  first 
annual  report  of  the  president,  October  17,  which  estimates,  from 
data  on  hand  that  "since  the  battle  of  Fort  Donelson"  the  ladies 
of  our  society  have  visited  the  depot  nearly  every  evening  and 
given  a  comfortable  supper  to  about  twelve  hundred  "sick  and 
wounded  soldiers." 

It  had  not  taken  many  days  to  discover  the  necessity  of  sys- 
tematizing this  new  work.  No  regular  meetings  of  the  Aid  Soci- 
ety were  being  held  at  the  time  so  an  unauthorized  committee 
was  appointed  by  the  president  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos,  and 
the  above  resolution  was  a  belated  effort  to  give  legal  authority  to 
the  committee  and  to  pay  a  debt  of  seventeen  dollars  incurred 
by  them. 

Mrs.  Winholtz,  (grandmother  of  Mrs.  Anna  Henkle  McClel- 
land) was  chairman  of  that  committee,  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Hays, 
(mother  of  Major  F.  L.  Hays)  was  secretary. 

They  made  an  arrangement  with  the  agent  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  at  Centralia  to  telegraph  to  the  Decatur  agent, 
"the  number  of  soldiers  on  the  north  bound  train  when  it  left 
Centralia."  This  report  was  immediately  sent  to  Mrs.  Hays  and 
preparations  were  made  accordingly. 

Flour  was  bought,  one  sack  was  sent  to  Mrs.  Winholtz,  for 
yeast  bread,  and  one  to  Mrs.  Hays  "who  always  had  luck  with 
salt  rising,"  and  these  ladies  pledged  themselves  to  supply  bread. 
Coffee,  sugar  and  butter  were  bought,  and  stored  in  a  room, 
loaned  the  society  by  the  proprietor  of  the  depot  hotel.  Three 
dozen  tin  cups,  a  five  gallon  coffee  pot,  six  pitchers  and  a  box  of 
tin  tea  spoons,  were  donated.  Ten  quires  of  heavy  brown  paper 
were  cut  into  squares  to  be  used  as  plates.  The  cook  at  the  hotel 
always  had  boiling  water  ready  at  five  o'clock,  and  a  committee 
of  four,  (serving  one  week)  made  the  coffee  and  cut  and  but- 
tered the  bread. 

It  was  hard  work,  but  it  was  exciting  and  interesting,  and 
there  was  always  a  "waiting  list,"  for  the  coveted  appointments. 


i8o  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

The  town  was  divided  into  four  districts,  each  in  turn  furnish- 
ing "the  extras."  A  well  filled  basket  was  the  necessary  card 
of  admission  to  the  soldiers'  car.  In  some  way,  now  incompre- 
hensible to  me,  the  telegraphic  report  from  Centralia  was  quicklv 
circulated  and  the  supplies  graduated  according  to  the  number 
of  soldiers  expected. 

Some  times  men  refused  the  offered  tin  cup,  with  "Thank  you, 
I  have  no  money.  We  haven't  been  paid  for  months,"  and  when 
they  learned  that  the  supper  was  a  free  will  offering,  without 
money  and  without  price,  their  gratitude  was  pathetic. 

There  were  always  dainties  to  tempt  the  lost  appetite  of  the 
sick  man,  and  the  exclamations  of  delight  at  the  unwonted  spec- 
tacle of  eatable  food  were  dramatic  and  sometimes  uproarious. 

"Fried  chicken,  by  Jove,  boys." 

"Hurrah,  pickled  peaches !  did  you  ever !" 

"Hello  boys  I've  got  a  jam  sandwich!" 

"That's  nothing,  I've  got  a  piece  of  genuine  pound  cake!" 

Once,  one  with  a  sob  said,  "the  salt  rising  bread  tastes  just 
like  that — that — mo — mother  used  to  make." 

We  always  mingled  tears  and  laughter,  mostly  tears. 

One  evening,  when  we  had  more  than  the  usual  number  of 
guests,  the  men  learned  that  the  wife  and  sisters  of  General 
Oglesby  were  among  those  who  were  serving  them.  The  news 
quickly  passed  through  the  car,  and  when  the  train  pulled  out, 
all  the  men  were  lined  up  at  the  windows  and  on  the  platforms, 
to  give  a  hip-hip-hurrah  for  Mrs.  Oglesby.  Then  hip-hip-hurrah 
for  Mrs.  Peddecord,  and  another  for  Mrs.  Prather,  and  then, 
three  cheers  and  a  tiger  for  the  ladies  of  Decatur. 

One  day  there  came  from  Centralia,  the  news  that  thirty  or 
forty,  "exchanged  prisoners  of  war,"  would  be  our  guests  that 
evening.  The  sympathy  and  the  curiosity  of  the  town  was  excited, 
and  the  baskets  were  both  numerous  and  daintily  filled. 

The  pen  of  Dante,  could  hardly  tell  the  story  of  that  evening. 
Big-eyed  skeletons  of  men  told  us  tales  of  thirst,  in  full  view  of 
streams  of  water  that  flowed  just  outside  the  dead  line ;  of  hun- 
ger, that  was  abated  by  chewing  the  leather  of  their  shoes;  of 
lashings  with  a  "cat  o'  ninetails ;"  of  wounds  dressed  with  salt  and 


GRIM  WAR  COMES  HOME  181 

gunpowder,  and  worst  of  all  of  tantalizing  tales  of  rebel  victories. 
Every  man  told  a  different  story,  each  more  harrowing  than  the 
other,  till  our  souls  were  filled  with  wrath  and  indignation  and 
Mrs.  Evans  exclaimed  as  she  left  the  car : 

"I  have  always  been  a  Universalist,  and  never  believed  there 
was  a  hell,  but  now  I  hope  there  is !  There  is  no  other  place  fit 
for  such  devils." 

Providing  for  the  comfort  of  convalescent  soldiers  en  route 
to  their  homes  was  a  problem  difficult  of  solution,  both  for  the 
government  and  the  Sanitary  Commission.  I  know  of  no  place 
except  Decatur,  where  any  regular  and  systematic  effort  was  made 
to  relieve  the  condition  of  these,  often  penniless,  travelers.  The 
regular  supper  station  of  the  north  bound  Illinois  Central  trains 
was  Decatur  and  Decatur  women  took  it  upon  themselves  to  see 
that  no  man  who  had  been  wounded  in  battle,  or  had  lost  his 
health  in  the  service  of  his  country,  should  pass  hungry,  through 
their  city.  The  fame  of  our  suppers  went  far  and  wide.  When 
officers  or  men  had  money  they  frequently  insisted  on  paying  for 
their  suppers,  "to  help  you  give  some  other  poor  fellow  that 
can't  pay  for  it,  as  good  a  supper  as  we  have  had." 

Passengers,  other  than  soldiers,  frequently  asked  to  be  allowed 
to  "contribute  to  your  supper  fund."  One  evening,  just  before  the 
train  pulled  out  a  beckoning  hand  called  me  to  the  car  window, 
and  a  weeping  woman,  whose  black  habiliments  told  her  story, 
thrust  ten  dollars  into  my  hands  with  "God  bless  and  help  you" 
as  her  parting  words. 

I  think  the  regular  serving  of  suppers  ceased  early  in  the 
winter.  The  congestion  in  the  hospitals  south  of  Cairo  had  been 
relieved,  and  only  when,  after  some  battle,  the  daily  telegram 
from  Centralia  reported  six  or  more  wounded  men  on  the  train, 
was  the  "basket  brigade"  called  into  service.  If  only  two  or  three 
suppers  were  called  for,  the  lunch  counter  of  the  Central  House 
served  them,  at  reduced  rates,  and  charged  the  bill  to  "the  ladies." 

There  is  no  mention  in  the  minutes  of  the  Aid  Society  of  any 
appropriation  of  money,  other  than  the  "seventeen  dollars  set 
apart"  on  the  twenty-third  of  May  for  the  use  of  the  "Depot 
Committee  "  My  impression  (in  the  absence  of  any  records)  is. 


182  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

that  the  donations  received  from  travelers  paid  for  the  flour, 
coffee,  sugar  and  butter,  and  for  occasional  meals  served  by  the 
hotel.  Of  one  thing  I  am  sure;  the  labors  of  that  committee 
ended  only  with  the  war. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
AID  SOCIETY  REBELS. 

The  invasion  of  Tennessee  and  Mississippi  by  the  Union 
Army  and  the  destruction  of  property  by  the  Confederates  as 
they  evacuated  the  country  left  many  homeless  refugees  in  the 
wake  of  our  army.  Some  of  these  people  were  the  wives  and 
children  of  Union  soldiers  whose  homes  and  fields  had  been  dev- 
astated by  the  rebels.  Many  others  were  the  families  of  men  who 
had  been  conscripted  into  the  Southern  Army.  "A  strange  infat- 
uation had  seized  the  Southern  leaders  to  destroy  the  property 
of  their  own  people,  to  prevent  its  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,"  so  the  families  of  the  men  in  their  own  army  were  left 
homeless  and  helpless  at  the  mercy  of  the  invaders. 

This  army  of  camp  followers  became  very  burdensome,  as 
well  as  an  element  of  danger.  Dr.  Johns  wrote  under  date  of 
luka,  July  first,  1862: 

Last  evening  one  of  our  men  was  shot  from  ambush,  while  out  pick- 
ing blackberries.  I  wish  we  were  allowed  to  scour  the  brush,  and  clear  the 

country  of  the  d d  white  trash  who  claim  to  be  Union.     Their  wives 

and  children  camp  all  around  us  and  demand  protection  and  rations,  while 
the  men,  instead  of  being  in  the  Union  Army,  are  skulking  in  the  woods 
shooting  every  soldier  they  can  get  a  pop  at.  Two-thirds  of  these  women 
are  spies, — their  presence  is  very  demoralizing  but  I  don't  see  anyway  of 
getting  rid  of  them  but  to  shoot  them. 

Impending  battles  made  the  removal  of  this  demoralizing  im- 
pedimenta imperative,  and  they  were  sent  north  as  a  military 
necessity.  They  were  dumped  by  hundreds  at  stations  along  the 
line  of  the  Illinois  Central,  and  Decatur  got  her  first  dose  some- 
time in  August,  1862. 

One  morning  Mayor  E.  O.  Smith  received  a  telegram  from 
"Headquarters"  at  Cairo,  announcing  that  "about  sixty  refugees, 
women  and  children,  will  be  left  at  Decatur  on  the  five  p.  m. 
train.  Make  some  arrangements  for  their  reception." 

This  was  a  military  order  to  the  mayor  of  the  city,  but  so 

183 


1 84  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

accustomed  had  the  authorities  become  to  calling  upon  the  women 
for  help  in  emergencies,  that  this  order  was  at  once  transferred 
to  the  Aid  Society,  with  generous  offers  to  "give  you  all  the 
assistance  in  our  power." 

We  were  not  very  anxious.  Others,  beside  Dr.  Johns,  had 
written  home  descriptions  of  these  "miserable  wretches,  who 
follow  the  camps  everywhere." 

But — they  were  women  and  children — they  were  driven  from 
their  homes  by  our  enemies — there  was  no  escape — so  we  made 
"arrangements  for  their  reception."  Mrs,  Greer  reported  "that 
the  old  Methodist  church  back  of  her  house  was  empty."  It  could 
be  used  as  shelter  for  part  of  them  "until  something  better  could 
be  done."  Mrs.  Evans  found  an  empty  house  in  the  northeast 
part  of  the  town  where  about  twenty  could  be  stored. 

The  old  church  was  cleaned,  some  soldiers'  wives  volunteer- 
ing to  do  the  work.  Mr.  Renshaw  donated  a  big  load  of  straw 
which  was  spread  on  the  floor  for  beds,  "they  will  probably  bring 
their  own  bed  clothes,"  ventured  a  soldier,  not  long  returned  from 
the  "Army  of  the  Tennessee."  Two  cooking  stoves  were  rented, 
some  big  empty  boxes  secured  for  tables,  and  we  were  ready  to 
lodge  them  for  the  first  night.  The  "depot  committee"  agreed  to 
serve  them  supper,  and  the  town  assembled  on  the  depot  platform 
to  receive  our  unwelcome  guests. 

At  five  thirty  "Decatur's  quota"  was  unloaded  at  the  station 
and  the  train  passed  on. 

A  few  people  had  gone  to  the  train  prepared  to  "entertain 
some  of  the  unfortunates"  at  their  homes  but — they  didn't. 

The  indescribable  mass  of  filth,  disease,  vermin,  and  tobacco 
that  had  been  unloaded  from  the  train  began  to  clamor: 

"What's  you'uns  goin'  to  do  with  we'uns  ?" 

"We'uns  is  used  to  sleepen  out  o'doo's." 

"My  gals  don't  keer  where  theyse  put,  so  you  fills  their  bellies." 

"Has  you'uns  got  any  snuff  heah,  we'uns  is  tired  of  chawin'." 

There  were  whole  families,  "grampa,  maw  and  the  gals  and  the 
chiluns"  grouped  around  old  bed-ticks  filled  with  "we'uns  plun- 
der," patient,  submissive  and  receptive. 


AID  SOCIETY  REBELS  185 

"Aint  you'uns  got  no  cawn  bread  ?  wheat  bread  aint  fillin'  ?" 

"My  golly-gosh,  you'uns  is  got  pow'ful  lot  to  eat." 

Those  were  some  of  the  comments  on  the  supper  we  had  pre- 
pared for  them. 

When  Mrs.  Greer  saw  the  crowd  she  rushed  frantically  to 
Olney's  grocery  store  and  ordered  two  large  tubs  sent  at  once 
to  the  old  Methodist  church.  Then  she  begged  the  use  of  a  big 
tarpaulin  and  hung  it  across  the  corner  of  the  church.  The  tubs 
were  put  behind  the  curtain,  the  bath  was  improvised,  but  its  use 
was  declined. 

"We'uns  is  too  tired  to  wash  tonight,  and  I  reckon  we  aint 
ust  to  water  nohow." 

That  night  the  president  of  the  Aid  Society  called  a  meeting 
of  the  executive  committee  at  Mrs.  Evans'  rooms  in  the  Revere 
House,  to  which  she  invited  the  mayor,  the  overseer  of  the  poor 
and  a  few  "prominent  citizens." 

"The  last  straw  had  been  put  on  the  camel's  back  and  she 
kicked,"  was  H.  B.  Durfee's  concise  report  of  that  meetmg. 

From  that  time  on,  the  board  of  supervisors  and  the  mayor 
of  the  city  assumed  the  responsibility  of  "providing  for  the  refu- 
gees." The  old  church  and  one  other  house  provided  shelter. 
The  supervisors  furnished  wood,  and  rations,  and  ordered  the 
children  sent  to  school.  The  consequences  of  that  order  will 
never  be  forgotten  by  any  old  citizen  of  Decatur.  Red  precipitate 
and  zink  ointment  became  the  chief  articles  of  trade  in  the  drug 
stores,  and  larkspur  seed  was  at  a  premium.  Grandpap  said : 

"Taint  no  use  to  try  to  cure  it.  We'uns  all  got  it  when  we 
fust  went  into  camp  back  of  Corinth.  And — you'uns  '11  have  to 
cut  off  them  curls,  'en  fine  combs  is  no  good,  but  larkspur  seed  tea 
will  kill  em,  if  you'uns  hes  the  larkspur  seed.  We'uns  aint  got 
none." 

The  doctrine  of  "the  universal  spread  of  contagion  by  con- 
tact" was  positively  proven  and  the  fecundity  of  the  "pediculas 
capitus,"  proved  to  be  even  greater  than  that  of  the  common 
house  fly,  as  told  in  the  modern  newspaper. 

There  were  among  these  people  a  number  of  healthy  looking 
young  women  and  girls,  who  were  offered  situations,  with  board 


1 86  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

and  wages.  These  were  promptly  and  indignantly  declined. 
"Thank'ee,  my  gals  aint  no  niggers,  if  we  is  po',  and  haint  got  no 
larnin'." 

(Thirty  years  after,  the  decendants  of  those  girls  were,  and 
had  been  continuously,  on  the  pauper  roll  of  Macon  County.) 

In  October,  Decatur  received  another  consignment  of  refu- 
gees, (at  least  a  hundred)  who  were  taken  directly  to  the  fair 
grounds  and  corralled  in  the  buildings  and  stalls  which  a  week 
or  two  before  had  held  the  exhibits  and  cattle  at  the  County  Fair. 

In  some  way  a  fund  was  provided  for  the  expenses  of  these 
people,  it  may  have  been  by  taxation,  but  my  impression  is  that 
it  was  by  subscription.  The  county  supervisors  certainly  had 
some  control  of  it  and  I  suppose  hired  a  man  to  disburse  it,  for 
I  find  in  a  report  of  the  "Proceedings  of  the  Supervisors  Court," 
February  term,  1863,  published  in  the  Decatur  Magnet  of  April 
1 6,  1863,  that  "Mr.  Brown  of  Blue  Mound  offered  the  following: 
Resolved,  By  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Macon  County,  that 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Volunteer  Aid  Society  are  hereby 
recommended  to  pay  George  W.  Baker  out  of  the  funds  of  said 
society  such  salary  as  they  may  deem  sufficient,  to  pay  him  for 
his  trouble,  as  back  pay  and  time  spent  for  said  society,  and 
that  we  believe  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year, 
a  sufficient  sum  to  pay  him  for  all  his  trouble  connected  with  said 
society,  which  resolution  was  adopted." 

In  the  bills  for  "Pauper  expenses"  there  is  this  item:  "To  H. 
B.  Durfee  agent  for  county  proportion  as  per  assessment  No.  6 
and  7  on  the  subscription  to  said  society  $900." 

Again,  "Mr.  Lichtenberger  offered  the  following: 

"Resolved,  By  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Macon  County  that 
the  treasurer  of  the  county  convert  the  bonds  now  in  his  hands, 
in  specie  which  was  collected  for  the  Volunteer  Aid  Society, 
into  current  funds,  and  pay  said  order  of  nine  hundred  dollars 
in  current  money  to  the  agent  of  said  society,  on  behalf  of  the 
county  and  that  the  treasurer  charge  himself  with  the  surplus 
arising  from  the  sale  of  said  specie,  which  motion  met  with  a 
second  and  carried." 

By  this  transaction,  the  county  made  a  profit  of  about  $648.00, 


AID  SOCIETY  REBELS  187 

the  premium  on  gold  at  that  date  being  in  the  neighborhood  of 
172. 

The  above  extract,  from  the  transactions  of  the  supervisor's 
court,  is  the  only  information  I  have  been  able  to  find,  regarding 
the  "Macon  County  Volunteer  Aid  Society." 

I  will  give  one  other  interesting  item  from  this  same  report : 

The  committee  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  claim  of  Henkle,  Shella- 
barger  &  Company  for  flour  furnished  on  an  order  of  Joseph  Kaufman, 
overseer  of  the  poor,  to  Dick  White,  a  man  of  color,  who  was  a  pauper, 
submit  the  following  report :  We  find  that  the  pauper  laws  of  this  state 
declare  that  any  person,  who  shall  be  unable  to  earn  a  livelihood,  in  conse- 
quence of  bodily  infirmity,  shall  be  supported  out  of  the  county  treasury. 
We  are  therefore  of  the  opinion  that  no  distinction  be  made,  or  intended 
to  be  made  by  the  pauper  laws  on  account  of  color  or  race,  and  that  the 
claim  of  Henkle,  Shellabarger  &  Company  for  $2.75  ought  to  be  allowed. 

(Signed)     ALVIN  EMERY, 

WM.  T.  CRAWFORD, 
I.  S.  BOARDMAN. 

Report  received,  committee  discharged,  and  an  order  drawn  on  the 
treasurer  for  $2.75. 


CHAPTER  X. 
GRIEF,  THEN  WORK. 

After  this  digression  I  resume  my  narrative  of  the  strenuous 
and  exciting  days  of  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-two. 

Six  weeks  after  Donelson  came  the  glorious  but  sanguinary 
victory  of  Shiloh.  The  news  was  received  at  first  with  wild 
demonstrations  of  joy,  but  an  hour  or  two  later  the  second  des- 
patch announced  that  "The  Forty-first  Illinois,  which  was  in  the 
front  of  the  battle,  had  suffered  severely." 

With  the  Forty-first  were  Pugh  and  Tupper,  Willis  Oglesby 
and  Alonzo  Burgess,  Bradsby  and  Nail,  Kanan,  Winholtz  and 
Steele,  and  many  others  whose  wives  and  mothers,  sisters  and 
sweethearts  had  been  for  months  co-workers  in  the  Aid  Society. 

There  was  a  week  of  anxious  suspense  before  an  authentic 
report  of  the  dead  and  wounded  told  us  that  the  "gallant  Colonel 
Tupper  had  fallen  while  leading  his  regiment  in  a  victorious 
charge  against  the  enemy,"  and  that  Willis  Oglesby  (the  father 
of  Mrs.  A.  R.  Montgomery)  had  been  found  dead  on  the  field  of 
battle. 

On  April  22  Decatur  put  on  mourning  for  "the  dead  of 
Shiloh."  Public  buildings  and  churches  were  draped  with  black, 
and  flags  were  floated  at  half  mast  and  multitudes  assembled  at 
the  grave  of  Ansel  Tupper,  to  pay  their  last  tribute  of  respect  to 
the  man,  and  renew  their  vows  of  consecration  to  the  flag  for 
which  he  died. 

The  closing  words  of  the  patriotic  funeral  oration  of  the  Rev. 
Jesse  H.  Moore  created  a  deep  impression,  when  raising  his  right 
hand  he  solmenly  exclaimed : 

"Colonel  Tupper  is  dead.  Treason  has  done  the  deed — the 
enemies  of  his  country  are  his  murderers.  Now,  here  over  the 
grave  of  the  slaughtered  brave,  let  us  swear  a  new  allegiance  to 
our  country  and  eternal,  uncompromising  enmity  to  treason." 

188 


GRIEF,  THEN  WORK  189 

A  thousand  hands  were  raised  and  a  deep  low  murmur  of 
"Aye,  we  will"  came  from  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

A  baby  boy,  (Luther  Martin,  the  son  of  my  soldier  brother), 
had  been  born  in  my  house  that  day,  and  in  the  evening  Mrs. 
Greer  and  Mrs.  Hays  came  up  to  congratulate  the  mother  and 
ask  news  of  the  father,  and  tell  me  the  story  of  that  solemn  oath. 

Event  rapidly  followed  event  in  the  next  three  months.  The 
western  armies  had  conquered  the  Mississippi  from  Cairo  to 
below  Memphis  and  Farragut's  guns  had  opened  it  from  its  mouth 
to  Vicksburg.  Grant  had  opened  up  the  valleys  of  the  Cumber- 
land and  Tennessee  rivers  and  conquered  every  stronghold  of  the 
enemy  in  Tennessee  and  northern  Alabama — but — "All  was  quiet 
on  the  Potomac,"  and  "McClellan's  army  of  222,196  men  were 
drilling  in  entrenchments  around  the  National  Capital." 

An  impatient  nation  was  persistently  crying  "On  to  Rich- 
mond" and  McClelland  had  at  last  informed  the  President  by 
letter  that  he  "purposed  with  this  force  to  move  into  the  enemy's 
country  and  crush  the  rebellion  in  its  very  heart."  The  world 
was  anxiously  waiting  the  fulfillment  of  this  threat.  The  great 
army  of  the  Potomac  had  been  transported  by  sea  to  the  vicinity 
of  Richmond,  and  rumors  of  battles  were  rife.  Hope  deferred 
made  hearts  sick  and  the  tension  of  emotional  waiting,  amounted 
almost  to  hysteria. 

I  have  before  me  two  packages  of  yellowed  letters  from  which 
I  could  fill  a  volume,  with  very  interesting  and  readable  extracts. 
My  letters  to  my  husband  are  chiefly  reports  of  farm  operations, 
and  news  of  the  children's  doings,  but  every  one  of  them  has  some 
item  of  news,  which  when  taken  together  give  a  concise  and 
comprehensive  epitome  of  events,  with  their  political  and  emo- 
tional consequences.  I  will  quote  such  portions  of  these  letters 
as  tell  the  story  of  the  summer  of  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-two. 

May  29.  An  effort  is  being  made  to  secure  the  establishment  of  a 
military  hospital  here.  So  many  sick  soldiers  pass  through,  and  so  often 
they  are  unable  to  go  further,  that  we  need  some  place  where  they  can  be 
properly  cared  for.  We  are  now  paying  the  expenses  of  two  men  who  were 
left  on  our  hands.  If  we  get  a  hospital  in  Decatur  I  wish  you  would 
apply  to  Governor  Yates  for  a  position  as  hospital  surgeon.  You  could 
serve  your  country  here  as  well  as  in  the  field,  and  you  could  be  at  home. 

May  29.  Tomorrow  we  will  send  a  box  to  you  in  care  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Minor,  Chaplain  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry.  He  thinks  he  will  be  able  to  get 


IQO  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

this  to  you,  but  if  he  fails  in  that,  is  to  send  it  to  Dr.  Trowbridge.  He 
will  at  least  see  that  if  possible  it  goes  to  our  own  men.  We  did  not  send 
you  as  many  drawers  and  shirts  as  we  intended  but  there  has  been  such 
a  demand  for  these  articles  since  the  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing  that  we 
have  sent  them  to  the  sanitary  commission  as  fast  as  we  could  make  them. 
The  ladies  have  met  every  day  and  a  great  deal  of  work  has  been  taken 
home.  Stamper  &  Condell  have  in  store  a  great  deal  of  muslin,  crash  and 
flannel  that  they  bought  at  anti-war  prices,  and  which  have  doubled  in  value. 
They  are  selling  these  goods  to  the  Aid  Society  at  cost,  so  that  we  are  get- 
ting muslins  at  I4C,  which  they  are  selling  down  stairs  at  35c.  We  think  it 
a  very  patriotic  offer  for  this  class  of  goods  is  going  up  and  they  could 
make  big  profits  on  all  the  goods  we  use. 

The  secretary  will  mail  you  a  list  of  the  articles  sent  by  Mr.  Minor. 
They  include  the  things  you  have  suggested,  as  far  as  possible.  Did  you 
say  a  peck  of  onions  would  be  most  acceptable?  Anyway  we  have  sent 
you  a  half  bushel.  Mrs.  Winholtz  and  Abbey  made  the  yeast  and  we  .are 
sure  it  is  good."  A  half  bushel  of  dried  yeast  is  in  the  list  sent  by  Rev. 
Minor. 

May  25.  The  condition  of  the  wounded  men  whom  we  feed  at  the 
depot  is  very  deplorable.  Many  of  them  have  not  had  clean  dressings  on 
their  wounds  for  weeks. 

A  man  named  Dubois  was  brought  home  from  Paducah  by  his  brother. 
His  leg  had  been  broken  and  reset  three  times  by  bungling  surgeons.  His 
condition  is  indescribable.  Our  society  is  taking  care  of  him  and  doing  all 
we  can  to  relieve  his  condition,  but  he  will  certainly  die. — Poor  Doctor 
Curtis  is  very  low. 

At  present  it  takes  all  the  money  we  make  at  the  socials  to  take  care 
of  the  sick  and  wounded  at  home. 

May  31.  There  is  a  box  of  hospital  stores  from  our  society  at  Cairo 
which  was  sent  to  Governor  Yates  for  the  "City  of  Alton."  I  have  just 
had  a  letter  asking  what  disposition  is  to  be  made  of  them.  The  ladies  are 
anxious  they  should  be  sent  to  you.  I  wish  you  would  write  to  the  Rev. 
Folsom  at  Cairo  for  them.  It  is  very  discouraging  and  disappointing  to 
find  that  the  stores  we  prepared  with  such  haste  and  care  have  been  lying 
at  the  depot  at  Cairo  three  months.  Who  is  to  blame? 

June  3.  Yesterday  we  started  the  experiment  of  holding  a  sociable 
once  a  month  to  keep  our  treasury  in  running  condition.  Only  the  first 
ward  of  the  city  was  solicited  for  last  night's  supplies.  We  had  ice  cream, 
strawberries  and  cake.  Mr.  Wessels  gave  us  a  great  many  flowers,  which 
sold  well.  We  charged  no  admission,  but  cleared  $33.  which  is  to  go  to 
the  committee  in  charge  of  the  sick  soldiers  in  town. 

The  monthly  "sociables"  became  a  regular  feature  of  the  Aid 
Society  work,  but  it  was  soon  decided  that  an  admission  fee  must 
be  charged.  One  ward  at  a  time  was  solicited  and  refreshments 
were  donated.  The  ice  cream  committee  met  at  the  hall,  and  with 
the  assistance  of  small  boys  manufactured  their  own  ice  cream.* 

I  remember  that  it  was  always  pronounced  good  though  it 
was  made  of  new  milk  and  raw  eggs.  The  Musical  Union  always 

*Judge  Johns  says,  Jay  Mansfield,  Corwin  Johns,  and  George  Stuntz  were  gen- 
erally the  small  boys. 


GRIEF,  THEN  WORK  191 

furnished  a  programme,  sometimes  very  elaborate,  but  usually  a 
quartette  who  sang  patriotic  songs  and  negro  melodies,  the  audi- 
ence joining  in  the  chorus.  Another  letter  says: 

Yesterday  John  W.  Bear  raised  a  full  company  of  eighty-six  men  for 
the  Sixty-Eighth  Illinois  Regiment.  This  new  regiment  is  only  enlisted 
for  three  months  under  a  call  from  Governor  Yates  to  serve  as  state 
militia.  Every  man,  or  boy,  in  the  company  is  from  Decatur.  Corwin 
was  wild  to  join  the  company,  but  I  did  not  have  to  say  no,  for  he  was 
so  decidedly  under  age  that  he  was  not  even  considered.  When  he  found 
he  could  not  go  himself,  he  came  frantically  to  me  for  permission  to 
take  young  Bramble's  place  in  Capren's  china  store  and  send  Bramble, 
who  was  old  enough,  as  his  substitute.  I  really  could  not  help  laughing, 
for  the  boy  was  in  such  deadly  earnest.  This  new  company  is  organized 
to  do  guard  duty  at  Camp  Butler.  Robert  Montgomery,  Ticy  Kaufman, 
George  Stuntz,  Hiram  Dillehunt  have  all  enlisted.  Thaddeus  Montgom- 
ery enlisted  with  a  company  of  school  boys  at  Bloomington. 

An  optimistic  letter  from  my  father  to  Dr.  Johns  dated  "June 
10,  1862,"  says :  "The  events  of  the  last  few  days  indicate  a 
speedy  close  of  the  war.  The  Mississippi  valley  now  being  open 
and  the  rebels  cut  in  twain,  any  further  efforts  of  the  traitors 
seem  futile." 

June  26. — Conflicting  stories  of  victory  and  retreat  come  every  hour 
from  the  vicinity  of  Richmond.  One  story  is  that  when  within  four  miles 
of  Richmond  a  retreat  was  ordered,  and  that  reliable  contrabands  report 
that  the  Confederate  Congress  has  abandoned  Richmond.  I  believe  one 
thing  is  sure,  it  cannot  be  many  days  till  we  will  hear  that  Richmond  is 
ours,  but  meanwhile  the  strain  of  anxiety  is  sickening. 

Our  gooseberries  have  been  a  great  success.  I  have  sold  $29.75  worth 
and  there  are  still  great  quantities  left.  I  have  invited  the  Aid  Society  to 
spend  my  birthday,  the  28th,  with  me  (picnic  dinner)  and  pick  and  can 
as  many  as  possible  for  the  soldiers.  We  have  engaged  a  tinner  from 
Morehouse  to  solder  the  cans.  We  were  very  glad  to  hear  from  you 
that  they  were  just  what  you  needed. 

June  29. — We  had  twenty-seven  ladies  at  our  gooseberry  party.  The 
girls  picked  all  day  and  the  other  women  stemmed  them.  Mrs.  Ryan  and 
Mrs.  Evans  superintended  the  canning.  We  have  18  half  gallons  ready 
to  send.  We  had  a  jolly  picnic  dinner  which  was  greatly  helped  by  about  a 
gallon  of  raspberries  that  Jen  Farzier  and  Mattie  Wells  picked  and  brought 
in  to  help  out  with  the  desert. 

The  reports  from  Richmond  grow  more  and  more  harrowing.  It  is 
arranged  that  on  the  first  news  of  the  surrender,  the  church  bells  will 
all  ring,  so  every  time  there  is  the  clang  of  a  car  bell,  we  all  jump  ner- 
vously to  our  feet  and  listen. 

July  2. — This  afternoon  about  four  o'clock,  I  was  sitting  (very  blue) 
preparing  currants  for  canning,  when  suddenly  every  bell  in  town  com- 
menced ringing.  I  sprang  to  my  feet  and  cried,  "Richmond  must  be  tak- 
en," then  ran  out  to  the  stile  where  I  could  see  the  men  at  work  at  the 
hay  and  called  to  Corwin  to  know  what  was  the  matter.  He  threw  up 
his  hat  and  yelled  "Richmond  is  ours,"  and  boom  went  a  cannon.  I  sat 
down  and  cried.  "What  a  fool,"  said  I  to  myself,  and  attempting  to  wipe 


192  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

away  the  tears,  "boohooed  again."  In  about  an  hour,  father  came  up  and 
the  children  came  running  in,  screaming,  "Richmond  is  ours."  I  ran  to 
meet  him  and  he  grasped  both  of  my  hands  (covered  with  sugar  and  cur- 
rant juice)  and  shook  them  as  if  he  hadn't  seen  me  for  a  month  and  the 
big  tears  rolled  from  his  eyes.  He  had  to  go  on  to  the  portico  to  wipe 
his  eyes  and  clear  his  throat  before  he  could  say,  "Yes,  Richmond  is  ours." 

Corwin,  who  had  disappeared,  came  back  soon  with  a  description  of 
the  doings  down  town.  A  large  jug  of  whiskey  had  been  procured  and 
upon  the  corner  near  McMillen's  men  were  going  through  the  process  of 
administering  the  oath.  They  made  every  man  walk  up,  take  off  his 
hat,  raise  his  right  hand  and  take  the  oath  from  the  jug.  When  anyone 
refused,  he  was  picked  up  and  carried  to  the  spot,  some  one  held  his  hat, 
some  one  else  administered  the  oath.  In  that  way  Father  Stamper,  Enoch 
Falkner,  Mr.  Hinkle,  A.  S.  Mills,  Mr.  Greer  and  several  others  took  it. 
Most  of  them  were  carried  to  the  spot  by  four  men.  They  at  last  at- 
tempted to  make  Dr.  Moore  "take  the  oath,"  which  he  declined  doing 
after  that  fashion.  Five  men  tried  to  take  him  out  of  the  store  but  could 
not,  but  at  last,  seven  did.  He  took  this  all  good  naturedly  but  when  with 
five  or  six  holding  him,  George  Baker  attempted  to  force  some  rot-gut 
whiskey  down  his  throat,  he  got  mad  and  came  pretty  near  whipping  the 
whole  crowd.  I  believe  Baker  escaped  a  whipping  by  apologizing. 

Never  was  such  wild  running  about,  shaking  hands,  cheering,  and 
yelling  witnessed  in  Decatur.  They  say  Fort  Donelson  wasn't  a  patching 
to  it.  Tonight,  they  are  firing  cannon  and  making  speeches.  I  am  writing 
to  work  off  the  excitement  before  I  go  to  bed. 

Next  morning. — Father  has  just  been  up  and  informed  us  that  the  report 
of  the  taking  of  Richmond  is  a  hoax  and  that  McClellan  is  badly  defeated. 
The  revulsion  of  feeling  is  more  than  I  can  bear,  and  I  am  actually  sick. 

July  5. — The  Fourth  of  July  celebration  is  over  and  it  seems  that  re- 
verses, defeats  and  disappointments  only  serve  to  fire  the  enthusiasm  of 
our  people  and  to  deepen  the  determination  to  never  say  "die,"  for  this 
day  will  always  be  remembered  as  the  greatest  Fourth  ever  celebrated 
in  Decatur. 

The  procession  is  said  to  have  been  the  longest  that  ever  wended  its 
way  to  the  fair  grounds  on  any  occasion.  Very  large  delegations  were  in 
from  every  township  with  banners,  wagons  of  girls  representing  the  states 
and  other  union  devices.  There  was  a  much  larger  crowd  than  celebrated 
the  Fourth  last  year.  Seth  Post  made  the  oration,  which  was  said  to 
have  been  very  good  and  very  patriotic.  I  could  not  begin  to  get  within 
hearing  distance.  Father  Stamper's  prayer  has  called  forth  a  great  many 
comments.  It  was  very  bitter  against  traitors  at  home  and  much  re- 
sembled David's  prayers  for  his  enemies,  which  most  folks  would  fall 
curses.  The  dinner  in  picnic  style  went  off  splendidly  and  there  were 
extra  provisions  enough  to  have  fed  a  regiment  of  hungry  soldiers,  and 
oh !  how  I  wished  some  of  them  could  have  the  surplus. 

The  toasts  and  responses  after  dinner  were  in  the  usual  style,  but 
all  intensely  patriotic.  The  President's  proclamation  calling  for  300,000 
more  men  was  read  and  received  with  rousing  cheers,  and  waving  of  hats 
and  handkerchiefs. 

July  6. — The  Sixty-Eighth  was  mustered  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States  yesterday  and  are  ordered  to  Washington.  They  are  to 
start  tomorrow.  It  is  understood  that  they  are  to  do  guard  duty  at  the 
Capitol,  and  Corwin  is  more  disconsolate  than  ever.  Poor  boys,  they  don't 
one  of  them  realize  what  they  have  done.  They  think  going  to  Washing- 
ton is  a  lark. 


GRIEF,  THEN  WORK  193 

July  13. — I  presume  you  have  seen  Governor  Yates'  noble  letter  to 
the  President.  I  sincerely  hope  that  a  policy  has  at  last  been  forced  on 
the  administration  that  will  put  an  end  to  this  horrid  war.  When  the 
sore  place  is  badly  kicked,  I  think  the  rebels  will  soon  cry,  hold — enough ! 
The  nigger  has  stood  in  the  way  too  long,  it  is  time  now  to  use  him. 
When  our  grand  army  at  last  goes  to  work  to  kill  the  rebellion,  instead 
of  plastering  it  over  with  soft  soap,  then  it  will  end. 

(No  date,  part  of  letter  missing) — Last  evening  there  were  some  excit- 
ing rumors  of  an  English  fleet  at  New  Orleans.  I  hope  they  are  un- 
founded. God  grant  that  no  more  horrors  may  be  added  to  the  war, 
but  if  England  interferes,  we  will  have  war  indeed. 

July  17 — I  entertained  your  friend,  Lieutenant  Bain,  and  wife  at 
dinner.  His  account  of  the  treatment  our  soldiers  are  receiving  from  the 
rebel  women  whose  niggers  and  chickens  they  are  guarding  roused  my 
indignation  to  the  highest  pitch,  but  thank  God  the  confiscation  bill  has 
passed  and  no  more  soldiers  will  be  put  under  arrest  for  stealing  an 
onion  from  a  woman  who  spat  upon,  and  cursed  them  while  they  guarded 
the  chickens  which  she  sells  to  you  for  ten  dollars  a  dozen. 

July  20. — The  town  is  in  a  furor  of  enlistment  excitement.  Mr.  Nath- 
an Tupper,  who  has  declared  ever  since  his  brother's  death  that  he  would 
enlist  and  avenge  him,  is  getting  up  a  regiment.  Rev.  Jesse  Moore  is 
also  working  up  a  regiment,  and  any  number  of  men  are  enlisting  com- 
panies. I  am  afraid  there  are  more  captains  than  men.  I  understand  that 
McClurg  and  Robinson  have  each  nearly  completed  their  companies. 
Billy  Brown  has  twenty-four ;  and  several  other  incipient  companies  are 
at  least  talked  of.  It  looks  as  though  Macon  County  would  prevent  the 
necessity  of  a  draft  in  this  state. 

July.  26. — There  is  a  great  deal  of  excitement  about  enlistments.  I 
will  send  you  a  copy  of  Mansfield  and  Freeze  advertisement,  to  show  you 
the  character  of  the  ball  they  have  set  rolling,  which  bids  fair  to  gather 
up  a  number  of  similar  offers  from  business  men.  I  hope  that  every  man 
of  property  who  feels  that  he  would  be  making  too  great  sacrifice  of  his 
business  interests  to  go  himself,  will  yet  be  compelled  by  public  opinion 
to  send  a  substitute  to  whose  family  he  will  guarantee  a  comfortable 
subsistence. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
RUSH  TO  ENLIST — BOUNTIES  PAID 

Following  the  victory  of  Shiloh  there  was  a  period  of  gen- 
eral depression.  Victories  had  been  won,  but  results  had  not 
followed.  We  had  occupied  the  land  of  the  enemy,  but  Vicks- 
burg  still  blockaded  the  Mississippi  river.  The  most  numerous 
and  best  equippedf  army  of  the  nation  had  accomplished  virtually 
nothing.  "All  was  quiet  on  the  Potomac."  Slavery  was  still  held 
sacred.  Slaves  were  forbidden  to  come  inside  the  lines  of  the 
Union  Army,  but  were  employed  by  the  enemy  to  build  fortifi- 
cations, and  work  the  plantations  which  supported  their  armies. 
The  people  of  the  North  had  become  restive  under  the  futile 
efforts  of  the  administration,  to  gain  the  support  of  the  suppos- 
edly "large  loyal  element  of  the  South,"  and  demanded  that  the 
negro  should  be  used  in  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion. 

Meantime  the  conduct  of  the  negroes  had  suprised  the  world. 
There  had  been  neither  insurrection  nor  murder  nor  rapine. 
They  had  been  quiescently  loyal  to  their  masters,  but  had  been 
been  more  loyal  to  themselves.  Believing  that  the  hand  of  God 
was  working  out  their  salvation,  they  had  hopefully  waited  and 
prayed  for  "the  coming  of  the  Lord."  It  was  neither  cowardice 
nor  indifference  nor  ignorance  that  held  the  hands  of  three 
millions  of  slaves  from  the  destruction  they  might  have  wrought. 
It  was  simply  Faith,  an  all  prevading  belief  that  "God  in  his 
own  good  time,  would  set  them  free." 

Governor  Yates,  believing  that  the  time  had  come  for  the 
nation  to  avail  itself  of  the  services  of  these  waiting  millions, 
despatched  an  open  letter  to  the  President  urging  him  "to  sum- 
mons all  men  to  the  defense  of  the  government;  loyalty  alone 
being  the  dividing  line  between  the  nation  and  its  foes."  "Slav- 
ery, the  cause  of  the  rebellion  and  the  bulwark  of  its  strength, 
must  be  made  the  weapon  for  its  destruction." 

President  Lincoln,  harrassed  as  he  was  by  extremists  on  both 

194 


RUSH  TO  ENLIST — BOUNTIES  PAID  195 

sides  of  the  slavery  question,  still  maintained  that  calm,  states- 
manlike middle  course,  from  which  the  best  results  were  likely 
to  flow.  All  his  efforts  to  influence  the  border  states  to  aid  him 
in  securing  compensated  emancipation,  or,  on  the  other  hand  to 
persuade  the  negroes  themselves  to  some  scheme  of  colonization ; 
having  failed,  he  at  last  issued  the  confiscation  proclamation, 
which  practically  secured  emancipation  to  the  slaves  of  all  men 
who  were  under  arms  against  the  United  States  government. 

When  on  July  2  the  call  for  300,000  additional  volunteers  was 
issued,  followed  on  August  6  by  a  second  call  for  another  300,000, 
accompanied  with  the  alternative  of  a  draft,  the  solmen  oath 
taken  over  Ansel  Tupper's  grave,  bore  fruit. 

The  people  of  Macon  County  determined  to  do  their  full 
duty.  No  blot  on  the  patriotism  of  Illinois  from  the  execution 
of  the  draft  could  be  tolerated.  Our  quota  must  be  filled  by  vol- 
unteers. The  patriotic  furor  was  as  intense  as  it  was  contagious. 

The  floating  population  had  already  been  swept  into  the  army, 
the  new  levies  must  therefore  come  from  the  prominent,  influ- 
ential and  prosperous  citizens,  yet  it  was  manifestly  not  every 
man's  duty  to  go  into  the  army.  The  salvation  of  the  nation  de- 
manded that  its  business  brains  should,  at  home,  provide  for  the 
sustenance  of  its  armies,  yet  men  were  accused  of  cowardice  and 
self  seeking,  who  refused  to  desert  their  manifest  duty  and  be 
drawn  by  popular  clamor  into  the  ranks  of  the  army. 

Copperhead  politicians  were  insidiously  discouraging  enlist- 
ments, by  stimulating  class  feeling.  Why  should who 

had  a  family  to  support  by  the  work  of  his  hands,  risk  his  life 
to  prevent  men,  "who  were  makng  money  hand  over  fist,"  out  of 
the  misfortunes  of  the  country,  being  drafted  into  the  army? 

An  element  of  truth  in  these  insinuations  claimed  the  atten- 
tion of  moneyed  men,  and  led  many  of  them  to  privately  guaran- 
tee comfortable  support  to  the  families  of  men  who  enlisted.  The 
majority  of  these  transactions  were  never  made  public,  but 
scores  of  patriotic  men  were  made  better  soldiers  by  the  assurance 
that  their  loved  ones  at  home  would  not  suffer  want  in  their 
absence. 

Another  form  of  substitution,  came  into  fashion.     Women 


196  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

took  the  place  of  young  men  in  stores  and  offices,  and  men  too 
old  to  serve  in  the  army,  entered  into  active  business  life,  filling 
the  places  of  younger  men,  who  served  their  country  in  the  field, 
while  farmers  who  stayed  at  home  pledged  assistance  in  the  work 
of  their  neighbor's  farms. 

Some  provisions  for  the  immediate  expenses  of  men  who  were 
suddenly  called  away  from  work  and  home  and  family  seemed 
imperative  and  "on  July  26,  1862,  in  the  board  of  supervisors, 
Lowber  Burrows  and  others,  'influential  men  of  the  county  who 
are  heavy  taxpayers/  presented  a  petition  'asking  the  county  to 
lay  a  special  tax  for  the  purpose  of  paying  every  volunteer  who 
is  a  resident  of  this  county  under  the  late  call  and  who  may  enlist 
for  the  period  of  three  years,  a  bounty  of  at  least  thirty  dollars." 

Supervisor  Pritchett  offered  a  resolution  which  was  adopted, 
that  this  board  will  pay  to  each  and  every  citizen  of  Macon  county 
who  enlists  or  has  enlisted  in  said  county  as  a  private  or  non  com- 
missioned officer  under  the  late  call  for  300,000,  up  to  September 
i,  1862,  $30  as  a  bounty,  and  upon  evidence  being  filed  of  each 
enlistment  a  warrant  be  drawn  to  the  wife  or  representatives  of 
such  volunteer. 

"February  24,  1863.  The  Board  passed  a  resolution  that  the 
treasurer  of  the  county  is  instructed  to  pay  in  full  the  wives, 
widows  or  heirs  of  the  volunteers  in  the  U.  S.  service  on  bounty 
orders  out  of  the  first  money  which  may  come  to  hand  by  means 
of  collection  of  taxes." 

I  have  not  been  able  to  learn,  to  whom,  or  to  how  many  men 
this  bounty  was  paid,  but  enlistments  were  certainly  stimulated 
by  this  provision  for  immediate  expenses. 

Incipient  companies  were  formed  all  over  the  county.  Mount 
Zion  and  Harristown  and  Macon  had,  in  less  than  a  month,  en- 
listed full  companies  and  elected  their  officers.  Decatur  had  at 
least  six  captains  in  the  field,  with  men  joining  their  companies 
every  day,  and  it  was  soon  evident  that  Macon  County  would 
have  more  than  a  full  regiment  to  her  credit  September  i .  Nathan 
Tupper  had  been  deterred  from  enlisting  by  a  promise  he  had 
made  that  he  would  care  for  his  brother's  family,  but  strong 
pressure  was  brought  to  induce  him  to  take  command  of  an  ex- 


RUSH  TO  ENLIST — BOUNTIES  PAID  197 

clusively  Macon  County  regiment.  He  was  assured  by  men  of 
means  that  if  he  would  consent  to  their  plans,  not  only  his  pledge 
to  his  brother  should  be  redeemed  by  them,  but  that  if  he  should 
be  disabled  or  killed,  they  would  see  that  his  family  was  well 
cared  for. 

Meantime  Rev.  Jesse  H.  Moore  had  been  urged  by  many 
friends  to  take  the  lead  in  organizing  a  regiment  and  two  Macon 
County  companies  were  pledged  to  him.  These  companies  went 
to  Camp  Butler  and  were  incorporated  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
Fifteenth  Regiment,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Moore, 
while  the  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth,  "Macon  County's  own," 
went  into  camp  in  the  Fair  Grounds  at  Decatur,  under  Colonel 
Tupper's  command. 


iwivminr  OF  111%  L 

SEP  2  3  1921 


CHAPTER  XII. 
STORIES  OF  FLAGS. 

The  patriotic  fervor  of  the  women  of  the  county  found  vent 
in  the  presentation  of  flags  to  a  company  from  their  vicinity. 
The  flags  presented  by  the  women  of  Mount  Zion  and  Harris- 
town  are  still  religiously  preserved  and  cared  for  by  the  custo- 
dians to  whom  their  companies  committed  them  at  the  close  of 
the  war ;  and  I  take  great  pleasure  in  allowing  these  custodians  to 
tell  their  own  stories  of  these  flags. 

George  W.  Lyons  of  539  West  Green  street,  Decatur,  has  in 
his  possession  a  flag  which  went  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
war  and  victory,  as  the  Regimental  insignia  of  the  One  Hundred 
and  Sixteenth  Regiment,  Illinois  Volunteers,  after  the  original 
regimental  flag  furnished  by  the  state,  was  "put  out  of  commis- 
sion by  shot  and  shell,  though  never  surrendered."  Mr.  Lyons 
had  promised  me  the  story  of  this  flag,  and  had  with  much  care 
written  all  he  knew  about  it  for  my  use  the  night  before  his  place 
of  business  was  destroyed  by  fire.  Then  Mr.  Lyons'  "story 
went  up  in  smoke."  I  will  therefore  be  obliged  to  content  myself 
with  a  reporter's  story  of  Mr.  Lyons'  memories. 

Mr.  Lyons  said  the  flag  was  made  in  the  Powers  building 
by  a  number  of  Decatur  women.  It  was  made  under  cover  on 
account  of  the  copperheads.  Mrs.  Powers,  Mrs.  Dr.  Johns,  Mrs. 
Dan.  Brenneman,  were  some  of  the  women.  About  $400  was 
raised  for  the  making  of  the  flag. 

It  was  first  presented  to  the  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth 
Illinois  regiment  in  Decatur.  Mr.  Lyons  is  not  sure  where  it 
was,  but  thinks  that  it  was  done  on  Lincoln  square.  However 
when  the  regiment  went  away  they  left  the  flag  in  Decatur  and 
were  carrying  a  state  flag.  This  state  flag  saw  service  through 
many  hard  fights  and  was  considerably  shot  and  torn.  It  was  put 
out  of  service  at  Camp  Sherman,  where  the  new  flag  came  to  the 
regiment.  The  old  state  flag  is  now  at  Springfield,  Illinois.  The 


STORIES  OF  FLAGS  199 

regiment  was  in  Camp  Sherman  for  the  first  time  on  July  25,  1863. 

In  October  the  regiment  left  the  camp  and  were  carrying  the 
flag  that  was  made  in  Decatur.  This  flag  then  followed  them 
through  all  of  their  battles. 

At  Fort  McAllister  the  flag  was  one  of  the  first  to  be  spread 
on  the  fort  after  its  capture. 

The  first  color  bearer  was  William  Smith  of  Co.  G,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Sixteenth  Illinois  regiment.  Mr.  Smith  was  injured  at 
the  fight  at  Kenesaw  Mountain  and  the  flag  was  then  carried  by 
a  number  of  different  men.  It  was  carried  off  of  the  field  at 
Resaca,  the  hardest  fight  that  it  went  through,  by  Mr.  Lyons. 

Mr.  Lyons  does  not  remember  who  carried  the  flag  at  Wash- 
ington and  who  brought  it  to  Springfield  for  the  final  dismiss- 
al. At  the  final  mustering  out  the  flag  was  given  to  Dr.  Ira 
N.  Barnes  to  keep  until  the  first  annual  reunion  of  the  regiment 
At  this  reunion  it  was  voted  to  George  W.  Lyons  and  he  has  kept 
it  since  then,  and  still  has  it  in  his  possession. 

Mr.  Lyons'  estimate  of  $400,  as  the  cost  of  the  flag,  is  prob- 
ably erroneous.  The  hospital  outfit  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Sixteenth  was  provided  for  at  the  same  time  that  the  flag  was 
presented  and  I  think  that  $400  included  the  cost  of  that  outfit. 

The  history  of  that  important  and  most  interesting  of  the 
work  of  the  Decatur  women  is  almost  lost.  I  had  an  indistinct 
remembrance  of  such  a  flag  having  been  part  of  our  work  in 
those  exciting  months  of  the  summer  of  sixty-two,  but  failed  for 
a  long  time  to  find  any  one  who  could  even  corrobrate  its  exist- 
ence. 

One  day  a  few  weeks  ago  I  met  a  lady  whose  presence  in 
some  way  suggested  the  sewing  of  a  star  on  a  flag. 

I  went  to  her  and  asked: 

"Mrs. do  you  remember  anything  about  a  flag  that 

the  ladies  of  Decatur  made  for  Colonel  Tupper's  regiment  about 
fifty  years  ago.    Didn't  you  help  make  it  ?" 

"Certainly  I  remember  it,  I  sewed  one  star  on  that  flag.  It 
was  made  in  Powers  Hall.  I  was  notified  that  the  loyal  ladies  of 
Decatur  would  meet  in  Powers  Hall  at  nine  o'clock,  one  morning, 
and  my  husband  thought  I  had  better  go.  It  was  rather  danger- 


2OO  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

ous  in  those  days  to  be  a  Democrat,  so  as  a  Democrat,  my  hus- 
band advised  me  to  sew  a  star  on  that  flag,  and  I  did." 

She  remembered  nothing  more,  but  I  remembered  that 
some  test  of  loyalty  was  exacted  from  very  many  loyal  people, 
who  were  under  the  shadow  of  suspicion,  because  an  element  of 
the  Democratic  party  was  accused  of  being  allied  with  the  Knights 
of  the  Golden  Circle,  in  discouraging  enlistments. 

Later,  I  learned  almost  by  accident  that  the  flag  I  had  been 
in  pursuit  of  was  a  bundle  of  rags  and  tatters,  reverently  and 
lovingly  cared  for  by  George  W.  Lyons. 

Miss  Katherine  Hamilton,  principal  of  Pugh  School  in  Deca- 
tur,  has  in  her  possession  the  flag  entrusted  to  her  father's  cus- 
tody, which  was  presented  to  Company  E  by  the  ladies  of  Harris- 
town  township  and  gives  its  history  in  her  own  words : 

A  CHERISHED  FLAG  OF  COMPANY  "E." 
By  Katherine  Hamilton. 

In  response  to  President  Lincoln's  call  for  volunteers  in  1862,  one 
hundred  boys  in  the  vicinity  of  Harristown  joined  in  the  refrain,  "We 
are  coming,  Father  Abraham,  three  hundred  thousand  strong."  In  honor 
of  these  boys,  Misses  Martha  Eyman  and  Mary  Eleanor  McGuire  rode 
on  horseback  for  miles  and  miles  soliciting  funds  with  which  to  buy  a 
company  flag  for  the  boys.  The  response  was  beautiful,  signifying  honor 
of  country  and  love  for  the  company. 

Flag  silk  was  not  obtainable  in  Decatur.  Through  Stamper  &  Elliott, 
it  was  ordered  by  the  committee  from  New  York.  A  very  serious  and 
heavy  hearted  gathering  of  women  and  girls  there  was  at  John  J.  Batch- 
elder's  home  to  make  the  flag.  Husbands,  brothers  and  sweethearts  were 
to  go  to  war.  Miss  Abbie  Batchelder  stitched  the  flag  together  on  her 
Grover  and  Baker  double  chain  stitch  machine,  the  only  one  in  the  coun- 
try. The  stars  were  placed  in  their  field  of  blue  by  hand  by  Mesdames 
Lewis  Eyman,  Samuel  Anderson,  John  Averitt,  and  Miss  Mary  Eleanor 
McGuire  at  Mr.  Abraham  Eyman's  residence  in  Harristown. 

With  the  flag,  costing  eighty  dollars,  and  baskets  groaning  with 
toothsome  eatables,  fathers,  mothers,  sisters,  young  brothers,  wives  and 
sweethearts  journeyed  to  Camp  Macon  (Fairview  Park).  The  flag  was 
presented  to  the  company  with  due  ceremony  and  entrusted  to  the  care 
of  the  captain — then  Captain  Lewis  Eyman.  Families  united  for  the 
last  time,  ate  together.  A  goodly  store  of  eatables  were  left  with  the 
boys  to  supplement  their  camp  fare. 

Soon  the  company  was  called  to  Camp  Butler  (Springfield)  to  be 
mustered  into  the  service  as  Company  "E" — n6th  Illinois — infantrymen. 
At  the  company's  first  engagement,  Arkansas  Post,  January,  1863,  Captain 
Eyman  was  killed.  The  flag  was  entrusted  to  the  new  captain  for  safe 
keeping.  Thus  many  changes  were  made  before  the  Grand  Review  at 
Washington. 

While  crossing  a  swollen  river  on  the  March  to  the  Sea,  the  pontoon 
broke  and  the  valise  containing  the  flag  went  down,  but  was  soon  rescued 


STORIES  OF  FLAGS  201 

water-soaked,  but  all  the  more  precious.  No  further  accident  befell  the 
flag.  It  was  brought  home,  cherished  and  honored  by  Captain  Richard 
M.  Hamilton. 

The  flag  is  now  in  the  possession  of  a  daughter  of  Captain  and  Mrs. 
Mary  Eleanor  Hamilton. 

Rev.  N.  M.  Baker  is  with  fear  and  trembling  trying  to  pre- 
serve the  flag  presented  to  Company  C  by  the  Mount  Zion  ladies, 
and  has  given  me  a  very  interesting  history  of  that  flag.  Mr. 
Baker's  story  follows: 

THE  FLAG  OF  COMPANY  C. 

In  August  of  1862  a  wave  of  patriotism  was  sweeping  all  over  the 
loyal  North.  The  magnitude  of  the  war  was  beginning  to  be  realized,  and 
five  hundred  thousand  additional  troops  had  been  called  for.  Men  were 
enlisting  in  Decatur  and  in  every  village  of  Macon  County.  Thomas 
White,  who  had  seen  service  in  the  war  with  Mexico,  was  enlisting  a 
Company  at  Mt.  Zion  and  in  that  vicinity,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
ladies  were  collecting  money  with  which  to  buy  a  flag  to  present  to  the 
company  when  organized.  They  could  not  make  it  themselves  and  have 
it  ready  as  soon  as  it  would  be  needed;  things  moved  rapidly  in  those 
days.  Many  of  us  enlisted  on  the  sixth  day  of  August;  on  the  ninth 
sixty-three  of  us  were  sworn  into  the  State  service  by  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  and  it  indicates  the  spirit  of  the  time  that  because  that  justice  was 
suspected  of  Southern  sympathies,  some  others  refused  to  be  sworn  by 
him,  though  he  read  the  oath  from  a  printed  legal  form.  On  the  thirteenth 
of  August,  with  one  hundred  names  on  the  roll,  we  met  at  Sulphur  Springs, 
near  Mt.  Zion,  to  organize  the  company.  There  was  a  great  crowd  of 
people  and  a  bountiful  dinner  was  provided  for  all.  Colonel  Moore,  who 
had  the  nucleus  of  a  regiment  in  Camp  Butler,  made  a  patriotic  address, 
after  which  the  company  was  organized  by  the  election  of  Thomas  White, 
Captain ;  Michael  Wallace,  First  Lieutenant,  and  Robert  Foster,  Second 
Lieutenant,  with  the  necessary  Sergeants  and  Corporals.  And  then,  on 
behalf  of  the  Ladies  of  Mt.  Zion  and  vicinity,  the  flag  was  presented  to 
the  Company  in  an  appropriate  speech  by  Miss  Sarah  E.  Price ;  and  I  re- 
ceived it  on  behalf  of  the  Company,  with  the  very  best  speech  I  could 
possibly  make  in  reply,  and  of  course  I  gave  the  ladies  the  solemn  pledge 
of  the  Company  that  we  would  carry  the  flag  with  us,  that  we  would 
never  disgrace  it  by  cowardice  nor  permit  it  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy. 

On  August  fifteenth  we  went  into  camp  in  the  Fair  Grounds,  which, 
now  much  enlarged,  we  know  as  Fairview  Park.  There  were  two  other 
companies  in  camp  when  we  arrived,  and  others  came  in  soon  after.  We 
began  playing  soldier  at  once,  with  constant  drilling,  frequent  marching, 
guard  mounting,  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  For  a  while  there  was  controversy 
as  to  whether  some  of  us  at  least  should  or  should  not  join  Colonel 
Moore's  regiment  at  Camp  Butler,  but  it  was  soon  determined  that  we 
would  stay  together  and  form  a  regiment  almost  exclusively  of  Macon 
County  men,  to  be  known  as  the  Macon  County  Regiment.  On  the  sixth 
day  of  September  an  officer  of  the  regular  army  appeared  to  muster  us 
into  the  service  of  the  United  States ;  but  some  of  the  companies  were 
not  yet  full,  and  we  could  only  be  mustered  as  a  battalion  and  were  so 
mustered,  with  J.  P.  Boyd  in  command.  Days  passed ;  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember was  approaching,  one  company  was  not  yet  full,  while  others  had 


2O2  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

more  men  than  the  law  required.  Money  was  raised  and  enough  men 
were  paid  one  hundred  dollars  each  to  be  transferred  from  the  companies 
where  they  were  not  needed  to  fill  up  the  complement  of  the  one  that  was 
still  lacking.  Some  men  were  transferred  from  the  Mt.  Zion  company  on 
these  terms.  The  last  obstacle  being  thus  removed,  the  regiment  was 
organized  as  the  Ii6th  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  on  September  30th, 
with  N.  W.  Tupper,  Colonel ;  J.  P.  Bpyd,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  Ander- 
son Froman,  Major.  At  the  same  time  the  various  companies  received 
their  designating  letters,  and  the  Mt.  Zion  Company  became  Company  C. 
As  its  place  was  in  the  center  of  the  line,  it  was  for  a  long  time  the  Color 
Company,  and  during  that  same  time  one  of  its  sergeants  was  Color  Ser- 
geant, having  charge  of  the  regimental  flag.  And  though  this  is  anticipat- 
ing, it  seems  as  good  a  place  as  any  to  tell  a  little  story  out  of  school,  and 
I  presume  it  is  same  to  tell  it,  after  all  these  years.  As  custodian  of  the 
colors,  Company  C  had  a  peculiar  opportunity,  and  I  think  that  a  few 
times,  just  to  satisfy  Company  sentiment  and  pride,  the  regular  flag  was 
detached  from  its  staff  and  this  Company  flag  substituted  in  its  place. 
And  I  think,  though  I  would  not  swear  to  it,  that  at  least  upon  one  oc- 
casion it  was  so  substituted  and  flung  to  the  breeze  as  Old  Glory  and  re- 
ceived a  "baptism  of  fire"  on  the  field  of  battle.  In  the  organization  of 
the  regiment,  I  was  made  Chaplain,  and  so  ceased  to  be  a  member  of 
Company  C,  though  my  interest  in  it  was  not  at  all  diminished. 

We  left  Decatur  for  the  seat  of  war  on  November  the  eighth,  in  thir- 
ty-six common  box  cars,  and  never  thought  of  grumbling  because  we  were 
not  furnished  with  passenger  coaches.  This  Company  flag  went  through 
all  the  Vicksburg  campaign,  across  to  Missionary  Ridge,  through. the  At- 
lanta campaign,  with  Sherman  to  the  sea,  and  back  through  the  Carolinas ; 
mostly,  to  be  sure,  packed  in  the  strong  box  that  held  the  Company  books 
and  papers.  And  it  was  with  the  Company  when  the  victorious  armies 
marched  through  the  streets  of  Washington  in  that  last  great  grand  review. 

After  the  Regiment  was  mustered  out,  this  flag  was  kept  in  a  hall  in 
the  village  of  Mt.  Zion.  At  a  great  reunion  of  soldiers  in  October,  1878, 
the  delegations  from  Mt.  Zion,  Long  Creek  and  Wheatland  Townships 
passed  through  Decatur  to  old  Camp  Macon  on  horseback,  this  flag  of 
Company  C  being  carried  at  the  head  of  the  column.  At  the  yet  greater 
reunion  on  October  6th  and  7th,  1880,  when  General  Grant  and  many  other 
prominent  men  were  present,  Company  C  was  there  again  with  its  dear  old 
flag,  this  time  on  a  temporary  staff.  The  old  staff  had  been  lost  in  the 
burning  of  the  hall  where  the  flag  was  kept,  and  the  flag  itself  barely 
escaped  the  same  fate.  And  now  it  seems  necessary  to  tell  a  little  of  my 
own  romance  in  order  to  bring  this  story  to  a  proper  ending  by  showing 
how  this  flag  of  Company  C  comes  to  be  in  my  possession.  At  the  time 
the  flag  was  presented,  in  August,  1862,  Miss  Price  and  I  knew  each  other 
but  slightly;  but  naturally  the  events  of  that  day  increased  our  ac- 
quaintance. It  was  equally  natural  that  we  should  correspond  while  I 
was  in  the  service,  and  just  as  natural  that  we  should  be  happily  married 
in  the  fall  of  1864.  At  this  reunion  of  1880  we  were  both  present.  On 
the  evening  of  October  7th,  as  we  were  about  leave  the  grounds,  the 
question  was  raised,  what  should  be  done  with  this  flag?  And  by  a  unani- 
mous vote  of  the  Company,  remembering  the  incidents  of  its  gift  and  re- 
ception, it  was  placed  in  the  joint  keeping  of  my  wife  and  me. 

When  the  flag  came  into  our  possession,  the  silk  in  the  white  stripes 
was  beginning  to  break,  through  the  action  of  some  material  used  in  the 
lettering,  making  careful  handling  necessary.  We  hung  it  to  the  breeze 
a  few  times  on  recurring  Fourths  of  July,  and  took  it  to  some  of  the  re- 


STORIES  OF  FLAGS  203 

unions  of  the  n6th  Regiment,  that  the  survivors  of  Company  C  might 
see  it.  The  last  time  that  it  apeared  in  public  it  was  draped  at  the  head 
of  one  of  the  stairways  leading  to  the  Chapel  Hall  of  the  James  Millikin 
University,  on  the  occasion  of  the  celebration  there  of  the  one  hundredth 
birthday  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  blue  ground  and  the  thirty-four  stars 
are  yet  good,  the  red  stripes  in  fair  condition,  though  slightly  broken ;  but 
every  time  it  is  opened  parts  of  the  white  stripes  fall  away  and  are  lost. 
The  thirteenth  day  of  August,  1912,  will  be  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its 
presentation  to  the  Company.  It  is  six  feet,  two  inches  long,  and  five  feet, 
ten  inches  wide,  and  bears  the  following  inscription :  "Presented  to  Co.  C. 
n6th  Ills.  Vol.  Inf.  by  the  Ladies  of  Mt.  Zion  and  Vicinity."  In  letters  of 
gold  on  the  white  stripes  are  the  names  of  the  battles  in  which  this  Com- 
pany bore  an  honorable  part : 

"Chickasaw  Bayou. 

Arkansas  Post,  Champion  Hills. 

Vicksburg. 

Jackson,  Mission  Ridge,  Resaca,  Dallas. 

Kenesaw  Mtn.,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro. 

Ft.  McAllister  and  Bentonville." 

A  long  enough  record !  I  have  always  been  proud  of  Company  C, 
though  I  was  not  a  member  of  it  long.  The  boys  made  good  the  pledge 
I  made  for  them  to  the  givers  of  the  flag.  They  carried  it  with  them, 
they  never  disgraced  it,  for  there  was  never  a  deserter  from  that  company, 
and  they  never  let  it  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
Decatur,  Illinois,  July  30,  1912. 

N.  M.  BAKER, 
Late  Chaplain  n6th  Ills.  Vol.  Infy. 

On  the  2Oth  of  August,  1862,  the  ladies  of  Macon  presented 
to  Company  E  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  Regiment  a 
beautiful  flag.  Miss  Sarah  Goltra  made  the  presentation  speech, 
to  which  Captain  Lane  responded  on  behalf  of  the  company.  I 
have  been  unable  to  learn  the  fate  of  that  flag,  but  presume  it  too, 
is  being  cared  for  and  cherished  by  some  member  of  the  company. 

Some  provision  ought  to  be  made  for  the  restoration  and 
permanent  custody  of  these  valuable  relics,  where  fire  cannot 
destroy  nor  thieves  break  in  and  steal.  If  glass  cases  were  pro- 
vided in  one  of  the  upper  rooms  of  the  Decatur  Public  Library 
for  the  preservation  of  these,  and  other  historical  relics  of  value, 
which  are  now  in  danger  of  being  lost,  a  museum  of  history  could 
be  collected  and  preserved  with  little  expense  which  would  be  of 
incalculable  value  to  future  generations. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
No  DRAFTED  MEN — BOUNTIES. 

Two  intensely  emotional  years  of  preparation  had  passed. 
The  last  flag  had  been  presented,  the  last  picnic  dinner  eaten  in 
camp,  the  last  farewells  spoken  and  grim  reality  replaced  the 
pomp  and  panoply  of  war.  Vicksburg  had  surrendered,  Gettys- 
burg had  quieted  the  fear  of  invasion,  yet  the  end  seemed  no 
nearer  than  at  the  beginning.  Measles  and  typhoid  and  camp 
dysentery  were  depleting  the  ranks  of  the  army.  Political  in- 
trigue was  weakening  the  power  of  the  administration.  Traitors 
at  home  were  brewing  discontent  and  treason.  The  ranks  of  the 
depleted  regiments  must  be  filled,  and  at  last  it  became  necessary 
to  draft  men  into  the  service. 

Illinois  escaped  the  draft  in  1862,  but  was  not  so  fortunate 
in  1864.  Mr.  Cyrus  Imboden  has  furnished  me  some  interesting 
statistics  in  regard  to  the  draft  and  the  bounties  paid  to  soldiers 
in  that  year.  Mr.  Imboden  says: 

The  first  and  only  draft  for  troops  levied  in  our  state  was  in  1864. 
The  number  of  men  in  the  entire  state  so  drafted  was  3,538.  This  draft 
did  not  apply  to  Decatur  township,  but  a  few  men  from  some  of  the  out- 
side townships  in  our  county  were  drafted.  Mr.  Schroeder  informs  me 
that  Decatur  township  under  all  calls  for  volunteers  issued  by  President 
Lincoln  has  to  its  credit  80  enlistments  in  excess  of  its  quota.  During  the 
year  1864  Macon  County,  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  enlistments, 
paid  a  liberal  bounty,  issuing  time  warrants  amounting  to  $60,000.  The 
men  so  enlisted  were  given  these  warrants  and  they  were  readily  cashed 
by  Dr.  J.  T.  Stapp,  Peddecord  &  Burrows,  and  James  Millikin.  There 
were  quite  a  number  of  men  drafted  in  counties  adjoining  Macon  county 
who  came  to  Decatur  to  secure  substitutes.  M.  P.  Murphey,  Ben  F.  Dod- 
son,  and  perhaps  others,  were  largely  instrumental  in  finding  substitutes 
for  these  drafted  men.  I  am  reliably  informed  that  as  much  as  $700  was 
paid  for  individual  substitutes,  and  substitute  brokers  grew  rich. 

Under  the  last  call  for  troops,  Illinois  had  furnished  18,500 
able  bodied  men,  but  so  great  was  the  need,  that  the  Governors 
of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  tendered  to  the  Government  85,000 
men,  too  old  or  too  young,  to  be  subject  to  draft,  but  who  could 
do  guard  duty,  and  man  fortifications  and  thus  relieve  veteran 

204 


No  DRAFTED  MEN — BOUNTIES  205 

troops  for  active  service.  Illinois  furnished  thirteen  regiments 
and  two  battallions  of  these  men.  Company  "E"  of  the  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-fifth  was  entirely  enlisted  from  Decatur, 
with  the  exception  of  six  boys  from  Bloomington  who  joined 
their  Decatur  school  mates  in  that  company.  A  few  gray  headed 
men,  who  had  escaped  enrollment  on  account  of  age,  were  in- 
duced by  the  parents  of  the  boys  to  enlist  and  go  as  guardians 
for  the  children.  It  is  to  these  companies  that  the  G.  A.  R.  is 
indebted  for  its  long  list  of  "youngest  men,"  yet  these  boys  are 
credited  with  "rendering  indispensable  and  invaluable  service  in 
Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Missouri." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
ACTIVE  DAYS  FOR  AID  SOCIETY. 

I  must  return  to  my  story  of  the  work  of  the  Aid  Society. 
They  had  taken  great  interest  in  the  two  new  regiments  that  they 
claimed  as  "ours"  and  on  Friday,  August  29th,  it  was 

Resolved,  to  furnish  the  regimental  hospitals  of  Colonels  Moore 
and  Tupper  with  the  requisite  articles  for  regimental  hospitals ;  and  that 
the  surgeons  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  and  One  Hundred  and 
Sixteenth  be  requested  to  furnish  lists  of  articles  desired. 

Resolved,  that  the  hall  be  open  on  Monday  and  every  day  next  week 
for  work. 

Sept.  nth.  The  Society,  today,  sent  to  the  One  Hundred  and  Fif- 
teenth Regiment,  Illinois  Volunteers,  a  box  containing  the  requisite  num- 
ber of  articles  for  a  regimental  hospital,  also  a  box  of  delicacies  for  the 
sick. 

The  contents  of  the  box  are  enumerated  in  the  Annual  Report. 

Tuesday,  Sept.  i6th.  Rev.  Lock,  chaplain  of  the  Second  Illinois 
Cavalry,  called  upon  the  secretary  this  morning,  stating  that  the  sick  and 
wounded  of  his  regiment  were  very  much  in  need  of  eggs,  butter,  potatoes, 
onions,  etc.,  and  asking  assistance  of  our  society.  This  was  brought  before 
the  meeting  this  afternoon  and  donations  of  delicacies  for  the  sick  so- 
licited. Thursday  was  appointed  for  packing  the  articles  received,  also 
for  packing  the  box  of  hospital  stores  for  the  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth 
Regiment. 

Secretary  read  to  the  society  letters  received  from  Colonel  J.  H.  Moore 
of  Camp  Butler  and  Colonel  Williams,  commissary  general,  Springfield, 
and  was  requested  to  write  to  Colonel  Williams  for  free  transmission  of 
the  articles  for  Rev.  Lock. 

Mr.  C.  C.  Burroughs  requested  some  assistance  from  the  ladies  in 
pasting  tickets  into  Testaments  for  the  soldiers.  Mrs.  Hays,  Miss  Laura 
Allen,  Miss  Emma  Powers,  and  Miss  Mansfield  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee for  that  purpose  to  meet  at  the  bookstore,  at  two  o'clock  Thursday 
afternoon. 

Friday  evening,  next,  being  the  usual  time  for  the  monthly  sociable  of 
the  society,  the  necessary  arrangements  were  made  this  afternoon.  It 
was  decided  to  have  two  ice  cream  tables.  Miss  Laura  Allen,  Miss  Emma 
Powers,  Miss  Mansfield  and  Miss  Pickerel  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  attend  one  table  and  Miss  Frazier,  Miss  Sallie  Powers,  Miss  Thatcher 
and  Miss  May  the  other.  It  was  thought  best  to  make  the  experiment  bf 
a  coffee  table.  Mrs.  Johns,  Mrs.  Hays,  Mrs.  Elliott  and  Mrs.  Millikin 
were  appointed  to  attend  it.  Adjourned 

Oct.  15,  1862,  an  agent  of  the  Jackson,  Tennessee,  Military 
Hospital  visited  the  Society  and  left  a  formula  for  making  mixed 
pickle  for  army  use. 

206 


ACTIVE  DAYS  FOR  AID  SOCIETY 


207 


Donations  of  green  tomatoes,  cabbages,  onions  and  cucumbers 
were  received  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Greer,  and  two  barrels 
and  a  half  of  pickle  was  prepared  and  shipped  to  Jackson  on 
Nov.  4th. 

The  vegetables  were  sliced,  laid  in  big  clothes  baskets,  each 
layer  sprinkled  with  salt.  After  standing  twelve  hours  the  salt 
water  was  pressed  from  them  and  they  were  packed  in  the  bar- 
rels, ground  mustard  and  pepper  were  mixed  with  vinegar  which 
was  boiled  and  poured  over  the  pickle  as  each  layer  was  packed 
in  the  barrel.  After  standing  twenty  four  hours  the  barrels  were 
headed  up  and  the  pickle  was  ready  to  ship. 

Other  articles  sent  with  them  were  one  barrel  of  cabbage, 
three  bushels  of  potatoes,  three  bushels  of  apples  and  eight  quarts 
of  tomato  catsup. 

On  Oct.  1 7th  the  annual  meeting  of  the  society  was  held  in 
Powers  Hall  in  connection  with  the  monthly  sociable.  Mr.  Low- 
ber  Burrows  read  the  reports  of  the  officers  for  the  year.  Amend- 
ments to  the  constitution  were  adopted.  I  will  not  cumber  this 
book  with  a  copy  of  the  amended  constitution.  There  was  no 
amendment  of  practical  importance  excepting  a  provision  for  a 
25  cent  membership  fee  which  gave  each  member  a  vote  for 
officers. 

Members  of  the  society  for  the  year  1863  were  as  follows : 


Mr.  L.  Burrows 
Mrs.  J.  Ryan 
Mrs.  S.  F.  Greer 
Mrs.  James  Millikin 
Capt.  White 
Mrs.  A.  T.  Hill 
Mrs.  Thatcher 
Lieut.  Mahannah 
Mrs.  Gen.  Oglesby 
Miss  Octavia   Smith 
Mrs.  A.  Kaufman 
Mrs.  E.  Litten 
Mrs.  E.  A.  Jones 
Miss  Howe 
Mr.  William  Bell 
Mr.  John  Ryan 
Lieut.  Crissey 
Dr.  H.  C.  Johns 
Maj.  Froman 
Capt.  D.  Allen 


Mrs.  Dr.  Libbey 
Mrs.  Newhall 
Mrs.  Dr.  Moore 
Mrs.  G.  W.  Bright 
Miss  Westerfield 
Mr.  Geo.  F.  Wessels 
Mr.  Wm.  Edmundson 
Mr.  Wm.  T.  Wells 
Mr.  G.  M.  Bruce 
Mr.  Joel  Brown 
Mr.  D.  L.  Bunn 
Mrs.  Col.  J.  Post 
Miss  Emma  Powers 
Miss  Ada  Powers 
Mrs.  Packard 
Mr.  J.  Lake 
Mr.  S.  F.  Greer 
Mr.  James  Millikin 
Mrs.  G.  W.  Morehouse 
Miss  D.  Jamison 


Mr.  J.  Shellabarger 
Mr.  Charles  Thatcher 
Mr.  Charles  Mansfield 
Mr.  Charlie  Elliott 
Miss  Star  Mansfield 
Mrs.  W.  T.  Wells 
Mrs.  R.  C.  Howe 
Mrs.  F.  P.  Hardy 
Mr.  Wm.  Martin 
Mr.  J.  L.  Libbey 
Mr.  J.  H.  Wassen 
Mrs.  James  Jones 
Mr.  Geo.  Boher 
Mr.  Starling  Cool 
Miss  Laura  Allen 
Mrs.  Dannels 
Mr.  F.  P.  Hardy 
Mr.  Sherry  Wait 
Mrs.  Ann  Wassen 
Mr.  G.  F.  Hardy 


208 


THE  CIVIL  WAR 


Mr.  J.  F.  Miller 
Mrs.  A.   A.   Powers 
Miss  Sallie  Powers 
Mrs.  Hargis 
Mrs.  Burrows 
Mrs.  H.  C.  Johns 
Mrs.  Evans 
Miss  Mattie  Wells 
Mrs.  Capt.  White 
Mrs.  Jamison 
Miss  Mollie  Thatcher 
Capt.  Daviss 
Mrs.  Capt.  Hays 


Lieut.  Caldwell 
Gen.  Oglesby 
Mrs.  M.  A.  Elliott 
Mrs.  Mattie  Cass 
Mrs.  T.  Hays 
Mrs.  D.  C.  Lockwood 
Mrs.  Mollie  Carter 
Miss  Ann  Donald 
Mr.  Geo.  Morehouse 
Mr.  Wm.  Crissey 
Capt.  Wm.  Brown 
Col.  Tupper 
Mr.  Worth  Bradley 


Mr.  Shockley 
Mr.  Wm.  Bell 
Mr.  Wm.  Race 
Mrs.  I.  H.  Burnuns 
Mrs.  A.  J.  Wessels 
Mrs.  W.  J.  Condell 
Mr.  W.  9.  Jones 
Mr.  Daniel  Elwood 
Dr.  S.  T.  Trowbridge 
Mr.  I.  Pugh 
Mr.  Sewell 


The  following  officers  for  the  ensuing  year  were  unanimously 
elected  by  ballot. 

Mrs.  Greer,  President. 

Mrs.  Ryan,  Vice  President. 

Mrs.  Elliott,  Secretary. 

Mr.  L.  Burrows,  Treasurer. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Hospital  Aid  Society  for  1862. 

In  response  to  a  call  made  by  the  war  department  in  a  circular  ad- 
dressed to  the  women  of  the  loyal  states  to  grant  relief  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  of  our  army,  the  citizens  of  Decatur  met  in  the  Meth- 
odist church  on  the  evening  of  November  i8th,  1861,  to  take  into  consid- 
eiation  the  best  method  of  assisting  the  hospitals. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  draft  a  constitution  and  report  at  the 
Baptist  church  the  next  day.  The  plan  of  organization  submitted  by  the 
committee  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  the  society  styled  the  "Sick  and 
Wounded  Soldiers'  Aid  Society."  At  a  subsequent  meeting  the  name  was 
changed  to  "Hospital  Aid  Society,"  its  present  title.  An  executive  com- 
mittee was  appointed  consisting  of  four  ladies  and  three  gentlemen,  one 
of  which  ladies  was  chosen  as  president,  one  as  vice  president,  one  as  sec- 
retary and  one  as  treasurer.  Eight  directresses  were  also  appointed. 

The  principal  part  of  the  funds  of  the  society  have  been  appropriated 
to  the  purchase  of  material  for  articles  of  clothing  to  be  used  in  hospitals. 
Several  donations  have  been  received  amounting  to  near  seventy  dollars, 
this  with  the  money  raised  in  the  usual  manner,  by  festivals,  sociables, 
etc.,  amounts  to  upwards  of  eight  hundred  dollars. 

Since  the  battle  of  Fort  Donelson  the  ladies  of  our  society  have  vis- 
ited the  depot  nearly  every  evening  and  given  a  comfortable  supper  to 
the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  passing  through  our  town.  The  exact 
number  who  have  been  thus  supplied  has  not  been  kept,  but  is  estimated 
from  the  data  on  hand  at  1200.  Several  sick  soldiers  who  have  been 
obliged  to  remain  in  town,  not  being  able  to  meet  connecting  trains,  have 
been  provided  for  by  the  society.  Small  donations  have  been  made  by 
gentlemen  on  the  trains,  to  be  expended  in  books  and  tracts.  The  society 
has  also  received  a  donation  of  English  and  German  books  from  the 
"Young  Men's  Christian  Association,"  of  Louisville,  Kentucky.  Before 
the  government  supplies  were  received  by  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth 
Reg.  111.  Vol.  the  society  distributed  to  them  one  hundred  and  nine,  pieces 
of  bed  clothing — forty  of  these  were  donated  by  the  county,  the  remainder 


ACTIVE  DAYS  FOR  AID  SOCIETY  209 

by  citizens  of  the  town  and  are  all  to  be  returned  to  the  society  when  the 
regiment  leaves.  Sick  and  wounded  soldiers  returned  from  the  army, 
unable  to  provide  for  themselves,  have  been  cared  for,  and  their  wants 
relieved  at  the  expense  of  the  society.  There  is  now  on  hand  for  future 
use,  eighty-five  yards  muslin,  two  hundred  and  eighty  yards  calico  and 
fifteen  pounds  yarn.  A  large  box  of  supplies  was  received  from  the  Aid 
society  of  Long  Creek  township  and  forwarded  to  Rolla.  The  society 
of  this  city  have  sent  supplies  to  the  hospitals  of  Cairo,  Paducah  and 
Jackson  and  the  St.  Louis  sanitary  commission,  also  one  box  by  the  Rev. 
S.  G.  Minor,  chaplain  of  the  Seventh  111.  Cavalry,  and  one  box  by  Rev. 
Lock,  chap-lin  of  the  Second  111.  Cavalry. 

The  following  is  a  complete  list  of  all  articles  sent  since  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  society : 

Pillow  cases,  305  Towels,  269  Fans,  go 

Sheets,  268  Handkerchiefs,  301  Prepared  rags,  500  Ibs. 

Drawers,  261  pair  Pillow  ticks,  37  Pins,  48  papers 

Socks,  98  pair  Dressing  gowns,  2  Castile  soap,  18  Ibs. 

Pants,  i  pair  Pillows,  147  Common  soap,  35  Ibs. 

Comforts,  67  Mosquito  bars,  26  Fine  combs,  84 

Mattress  ticks,  22  Army  suit,  I  Coarse  combs,  56 

Slippers,  54  Arm  pads,  119  Letter  paper,  6  quires 

Blankets,  10  Shirts,  239  Envelopes,  6  dozen 

Coverlets,  i  Bandages,  1,000  rolls        Pickle,  2  barrels 

Also  lint,  tracts,  magazines,  papers  and  books. 

Delicacies : 

Canned  fruits,  66  quarts  Tomato  catsup,  7  bottles  Potatoes,  9  bushels 
Jelly,  20  jars  Domestic  wine,  15  Codfish,  34  Ibs. 

Blackberry  cordial,  bottles  Dried  beef,  28  Ibs. 

2  bottles  Onions,  il/2  bushels          Bologna  sausage,  10  Ibs. 

Tamarins,  yeast,  tobacco  and  dried  apples. 

The  report  of  the  treasurer  is  not  included  in  the  minutes  and 
much  valuable  history  is  lost.  I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  the 
treasurer's  book. 

Nov.  2ist,  1862.  Arrangements  were  made  for  a  Thanksgiv- 
ing Festival.  Miss  Mary  Thatcher,  Misses  Emma  and  Sarah 
Powers  and  Miss  Laura  Allen  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
canvas  the  town  for  donations. 

Nov.  28th.  It  was  recorded  that  the  proceeds  of  a  festival 
were  $178.50. 

Friday,  January  gth,  it  was  decided  to  canvas  only  one  ward 
at  a  time  for  provisions  for  the  monthly  sociables.  The  Third 
ward  was  asked  to  furnish  cakes,  etcetra,  for  the  January  sociable, 
Mrs.  Greer,  Mrs.  Powers,  Mrs.  Johnson  and  Mrs.  Hays  to  have 
charge  of  the  coffee  table.  Mrs.  Evans,  Mrs.  Thatcher,  Mrs. 
Ennis  and  Mrs.  Johns,  the  oyster  table.  Mrs.  Hill,  Mrs.  Capen, 
Miss  Sallie  Taylor  and  Miss  Wilder  the  ice  cream. 

Jan.  1 7th  the  proceds  of  the  sociable  were  set  down  as  $89.50. 


2io  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

Mr.  Wessels  donated  camelias  which  were  sold  for  $14.85. 

Donation  from  the  German  Turners  was  $37.80. 

Dr.  Ira  Barnes,  surgeon  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth 
Illinois  Regiment,  was  at  home  and  represented  that  the  regiment 
was  greatly  in  need  of  sanitary  supplies.  He  expected  to  return 
to  the  army  in  a  week,  and  would  personally  take  to  his  regiment 
any  supplies  that  the  Aid  Society  could  prepare. 

March  27th,  1863,  the  hall  was  opened  four  days,  the  attend- 
ance was  large  and  a  great  deal  of  work  was  accomplished.  The 
regular  monthly  sociable  was  held  Tuesday  evening  and  $67.50 
was  cleared. 

March  3Oth  the  Society  packed  at  the  Masonic  Hall  boxes  for 
the  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Regiment.  (The  contents  of 
these  boxes  are  included  in  the  annual  report.) 

Entries  in  the  minutes  are  as  follows : 

April  17,  1863.  The  attendance  this  month  was  not  as  large  as  usual. 
Arrangements  were  made  for  an  April  sociable.  Coffee  table  Mrs.  Johns, 
Hill  and  Elliott.  Ice  cream  Mrs.  Greer,  Hays,  Ryan  and  Evans. 

April  25th.     Net  proceeds  of  sociable  last  night,  $51.45. 

May  2Qth.    Net  proceeds  of  Col.  Hawkins  lecture,  $8.05. 

May  26th.  Received  today  an  appeal  from  the  sanitary  commission 
at  Springfield  asking  us  to  make  a  general  effort  throughout  this  county, 
to  relieve  the  sick  and  wounded  of  our  Army  now  before  Vicksburg. 

The  president  proposed  that  we  issue  an  appeal  to  the  people  and 
have  it  circulated  universally  through  the  county. 

The  secretary  in  accordance  with  the  above  wrote  the  appeal  and 
caused  500  cop.  to  be  printed.  Mr.  Hammer  and  others  caused  them  to 
be  circulated  throughout  the  town  and  county.  Hardy  Bros,  offered 
their  cellar  to  store  the  articles  that  might  be  donated  by  the  people,  also 
kept  an  exact  account  of  all  donations.  The  president  also  proposed  that 
we  give  a  strawberry  and  floral  festival  upon  the  4th  of  June,  which  met 
the  approbation  of  all,  consequently  arrangements  were  made  to  furnish 
the  necessary  articles  for  that  occasion.  The  whole  town  was  canvassed 
for  strawberries,  cream  and  flowers.  The  2nd  ward  furnished  the  cake. 
Mrs.  Fenton  &  Mrs.  Johns  were  appointed  to  superintend  the  flower 
table.  Mrs.  Condell  &  Mrs.  Elliott,  ice  cream  table  No.  i,  Mr.  Greer  & 
Mrs.  Smith,  ice  cream  table  No.  2,  Mr.  Lpwber  Burrows,  Mr.  J.  K.  Was- 
sen,  D.  P.  Hardy  and  several  ladies  appointed  to  decorate  the  hall.  It  is 
thought  best  to  have  10  cts.  admission. 

June  5th.  Festival  last  night  was  largely  attended.  Proceeds  were 
as  follows : 

Door  fee $47.00 

Ice  cream  No.  i 73-OO 

Ice  cream  No.  2 69.50 

Flower  table  55-QO 

Donations 5.50 

Net  proceeds    250.00 


ACTIVE  DAYS  FOR  AID  SOCIETY  211 

June  5th.  Mrs.  Greer,  Mrs.  Ryan,  Mrs.  Elliott,  G.  M.  Wood,  C.  C. 
Burroughs  &  Dr.  Moore  were  invited  to  go  to  Blue  Mound  township  to 
organize  a  Soldiers  Aid  Society.  Went  according  to  agreement.  Society 
was  formed.  The  people  seemed  to  be  very  much  interested  in  doing 
something  to  help  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers. 

Monday,  June  8th.  Packed  in  Hardy  Bros,  store  the  following 
articles  and  forwarded  them  to  the  sanitary  commission,  Springfield. 
(List  included  in  the  annual  report.) 

June  Qth,  1863.    Sent  to  sanitary  commission  at  Springfield  $133.50. 

Mr.  Olney  assisted  in  packing  boxes  and  marked  and  shipped  them. 

June  i8th.  Dr.  Johns,  Surgeon  of  the  i2Qth  111.  Vol.,  asks  for  a  box 
of  hospital  clothing.  The  executive  committee  voted  that  the  society  com- 
ply with  Dr.  Johns'  request.  (Articles  sent  are  included  in  the  annual 
report.) 

July  3 1  st.     Sent  another  box  to  Springfield. 

Aug.  7th.    Sociable  at  Powers  hall.     Proceeds  $169.45. 

Sept.  26th.  Proceeds  of  sociable  $113.05.  Regular  meetings  during 
the  last  two  months  have  been  well  attended.  Hall  not  opened  during 
Fair  week. 

Oct.  i6th.  Arrangements  made  for  the  election  of  officers  for  the 
ensuing  year. '  A  nominating  committee  was  apointed. 

Oct.  22nd,  1863.  The  anniversary  meeting  of  the  society  was  held  at 
Powers  hall.  The  officers  for  the  ensuing  year  were  unanimously  elected. 

President — Mrs.  E.  J.  Evans. 

Vice  President — Mrs.  Ira  Barnes. 

Secretary — Mrs.  H.  C.  Johns. 

Treasurer — Mr.  L.  Burrows. 

Directress — Mrs.  J.  Ryan,  Mrs.  Locke,  Mrs.  J.  Mansfield,  Mrs.  T. 
Hays,  Mrs.  S.  Smith. 

Membership  Fees   $14.00 

Oyster  Tables    28.90 

Donation 1.50 

A  crayon  portrait  of  Major  General  R.  J.  Oglesby  was  pur- 
chased by  the  society  as  a  contribution  to  the  North  Western  Fair. 
The  Society  Paid  for  it  $20.  (The  picture  was  one  of  the  articles 
disposed  of  at  the  Sanitary  Fair  in  Chicago  by  raffle,  and  was 
valued  in  their  advertisement  at  $50.) 

"The  second  annual  Report"  is  probably  lost,  only  the  title 
appearing  in  the  book,  but  I  have  made  the  following  synopsis 
of  the  work  of  the  year : 

Bed  ticks,  14  Gooseberries,  8  gal.  Jam,  2  qts. 

Sheets,  106  Peaches,  10  qts.  Potatoes,  3  bbls. 

Pillows,  41  Comforts,  25  Cherries,  17  qts. 

Drawers,  63  Sheets,  156  Raspberries.  8  qts. 

Shirts,  96  Pillow  cases,   141  Tomatoes,  9  gal. 

Socks,  pr.,  28  Towels,  96  Pickles,  4  gal. 

Napkins,  18  Slippers,  pr.,  10  Currants,  4  gal. 

Fine  combs,  14  Hdkfs.,  30  Blackberry  Wine,  5  btl. 

Tape  rolls,  16  Coarst-  combs,  12  Horse  Radish,  i  qts. 

Arm  pads,  6  Papers  pins,  18  Apple  Butter,  8  gal. 


212  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

Dried  Beef,  13  Ibs.          Books  &  Boxes,  3  Grape  Wine,  5  btl. 

Dried  Apples,  i  bbl.        Bologna  sausage,  10  Ibs.  Butter,  44  Ibs. 

Proceeds  of  Festivals,  etc.: 

Nov.  27th  $170.00  Col.  Hawkin's  lecture 8.05 

Jan.  17,  1863 89.00  June  5th   250.00 

German  Turners   37.80  Aug.  7th  269.45 

Donations    42.50  Sept.  28th  1 13.05 

March  27th   67.00  Oct.   28th    45.00 

April  25th    51.45 

Total $1,143.30 

Mr.  Barnwell  offered  the  society  the  parlor  of  his  photograph 
gallery  as  a  place  of  meeting  for  the  winter.  The  ante-room  of 
the  Odd  Fellows  Hall,  across  the  hall,  was  also  offered  the  society 
for  a  cutting  and  packing  room.  These  offers  were  accepted 
with  thanks,  and  it  was  "Resolved  that  our  meetings  will  be  held 
every  Friday  at  Barnwell's  Gallery." 

Oct.  25th.  Mrs.  Johns  was  requested  to  visit  the  Hospitals  at 
Nashville  while  in  the  city.  "Twenty-four  mugs  filled  with  thir- 
teen Ibs.  of  butter,  were  sent  by  Mrs.  Johns,  to  the  Hospital  of 
the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-ninth  Regiment  Illinois  Volun- 
teers." (Dr.  Johns  had  complained  that  "tin  cups  burned  the 
lips.") 

Nov.  3rd.  Mr.  George  Baker  presented  a  letter  to  the  society 
from  seven  members  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Regi- 
ment Illinois  Volunteers  who  were  prisoners  on  Belle  Isle  at 
Richmond  asking  for  some  provisions.  It  was  resolved  to  furnish 
what  they  asked  for  and  Mr.  Baker  was  requested  to  purchase 
the  articles  and  attend  to  their  shipment. 

Nov.  5th  the  society  sent  to  prisoners  at  Richmond  7  Ibs. 
Tobacco,  25  Ibs.  Rice,  23  Ibs.  Cheese,  I  bag  Table  Salt,  6  Ibs. 
Pepper,  3  Ibs.  Castile  Soap,  J4  lb.  Thread,  3  Towels,  i  quire 
Paper,  2  doz.  stamped  envelopes,  25  Ibs.  B.  Sausage,  5^  Ibs. 
Dried  Beef,  54  Ibs.  Bacon.  Paid  express  charges  on  above  $14.30. 

At  the  third  annual  Thanksgiving  Festival  the  proceeds  were : 
Door  receipts  $42.95  (10  cts.  admission),  Supper  tickets  $78.95, 
Oyster  table  $53.25,  Ice  cream  table  $43.35,  Confectionary  table 
$69.45,  Donation  from  Mr.  Boardman  $10.00,  Gross  receipts 
$278.00.  The  expenses  for  oysters,  candy,  nuts,  sugar,  cranber- 
ries, ice  cream,  scrubbing  and  dishwashing,  printing  and  hall,  were 
$68.20,  leaving  net  proceeds  $210. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

*   , 

AID  SOCIETY'S  BIGGEST  YEAR. 

During  the  winter  of  sixty-three  and  until  August  of  sixty- 
four,  the  Aid  Society  met  in  Mr.  Barnwell's  gallery  every  Friday 
and  upon  several  occasions  of  "rushwork"  there  were  three  and 
four  meetings  a  week.  There  were  but  few  sewing  machines  in 
town,  but  whenever  there  was  an  unusual  demand  for  work,  Mr. 
Race  and  Mr.  Barber  sent  in  sewing  machines  and  a  man  to 
operate  them.  Miss  Laura  Allen  also  had  a  machine  which  she 
used  regularly  every  Friday.  Mrs.  Johns'  hand  run  machine  had 
been  in  use  almost  every  week  for  two  years.  A  number  of  ladies 
had  learned  to  work  it,  and  it  was  almost  as  much  the  property  of 
the  "society"  as  was  "Old  Billy,"  Mrs.  Johns'  gentle  and  useful 
old  horse. 

An  attempt  was  made  to  substitute  a  course  of  lectures  for  the 
monthly  "sociables."  Dr.  Wm.  Barnes,  H.  B.  Durfee  and  J.  S. 
Post  were  appointed  a  committee  on^  lectures.  The  first  lecture 
was  delivered  by  Maj.  Gen.  Oglesby  and  netted  $30.50,  which 
sum  was  appropriated  to  the  Relief  Society.  Colonel  Nathan 
Tupper,  who  was  at  home  on  sick  leave,  was  to  have  delivered 
the  second  on  January  22,  but  "the  lecture  was  postponed  on 
account  of  the  sickness  of  the  orator."  On  March  n  it  is  re- 
corded that,  "the  funeral  of  Colonel  Tupper  prevented  the  usual 
meeting  of  the  society."  "The  death  of  Colonel  Tupper  cast  a 
gloom  over  the  entire  city."  "The  two  brave  and  patriotic  broth- 
ers, martyrs  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  now  lie  in  Greenwood  Cem- 
etery, their  monuments  a  perpetual  reminder  of  the  cost  of  the 
rebellion." 

The  omission  of  two  monthly  "sociables"  had  so  depleted  the 
treasury,  (lectures  having  proved  a  failure)  that  on  February 
26  a  "sociable"  was  given  in  Powers  Hall.  Five  dollars  and 
eighty  cents  had  been  "paid  to  soldiers  wives  for  labor,  and  one 


213 


214  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

counterfeit  $10  bill  somewhat  reduced  the  amount  deposited," 
but  the  proceeds  clear  of  expenses  were  $126.05. 

February  26  the  Society  Was  "notified  of  the  donation  by  Mr. 
I.  R.  Gibson,  through  Mr.  Lowber  Burrows,  of  four  fine  steel 
plate  engravings  handsomely  framed."  (Cole's  Voyage  of  life.) 
The  pictures  were  sold  for  $25. 

April  i  an  entertainment  of  tableaux  and  music  was  given  at 
Powers  Hall  and  repeated  the  next  evening  with  net  proceeds  of 
$162.00. 

These  tableaux  were  artistic  and  beautiful.  The  costuming 
was  done  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Livingstone  and  the  setting 
of  the  tableaux  by  Mr.  Lowber  Burrows,  as  stage  manager,  would 
have  done  credit  to  any  professional  troup  of  entertainers. 

About  this  time  constant  and  persistent  calls  were  made  upon 
the  society  by  the  Springfield  Aid  Society  for  clothing,  bedding 
and  other  supplies  for  the  hospital  at  Camp  Butler.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  visit  Springfield  and  Camp  Butler,  which  com- 
mittee advised  that  the  stores  we  had  on  hand,  and  all  that  could 
be  supplied  within  a  month,  ought, to  be  sent  to  Camp  Butler. 

There  had  been  a  persistent  effort  to  make  political  capital 
out  of  complications  in  the  management  of  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission. The  "copperhead"  press  made  grave  charges  of  misap- 
propriation of  hospital  stores  by  officers  and  surgeons.  Letters 
from  soldiers  were  published  complaining  that  the  "surgeons  and 
nurses  in  the  hospital  were  feasting  on  the  fat  of  the  land,  while 
the  poor  privates  saw  nothing  but  "  'sow  belly'  and  hard  tack." 

The  miscarriage  of  packages  sent  to  particular  regiments  was 
made  the  basis  of  loud  complaints  against  the  Aid  Sociey.  For 
these  reasons  the  executive  committee  of  the  Aid  Society  thought 
best  to  grant  the  request  of  the  Springfield  Society  and  join  with 
them  in  work  for  the  hospital  at  Camp  Butler.  There  was  some 
dissatisfaction  with  this  decision.  The  desire  to  "do  for  our  own 
men,"  overruled  the  expediency  of  using  our  stores  for  the  gen- 
eral good,  and  individual  efforts,  independent  of  the  Hospital 
Aid  Society  to  send  boxes  to  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth 
and  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Regiments  resulted  in  a  total 


AID  SOCIETY'S  BIGGEST  YEAR  215 

failure,  both  the  Christian  and  Sanitary  Commission  refusing  to 
transport  private  shipments. 

During  the  summer,  gooseberries  were  canned,  cherries  dried, 
cordials  and  wines  made,  and  many  fresh  vegetables  sent  to  the 
Camp  Butler  Hospital. 

The  State  Agricultural  Fair  was  to  be  held  in  Decatur  in 
September,  and  a  proposition  emanating  from  our  society  to  hold 
a  State  Sanitary  Fair  in  connection  with  it  was  sent  to  the  State 
Sanitary  Commission. 

On  "July  29  a  number  of  ladies  from  our  society  met  with  a 
committee  of  ladies  from  Springfield  and  the  State  Board  of  Agri- 
culture, at  the  Fair  Grounds,  to  decide  on  the  question  of  a  State 
Sanitary  Fair.  A  meeting  of  the  State  Sanitary  Commission  will 
be  held  here  on  August  9." 

August  5  arrangements  were  made  for  entertaining  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  State  Sanitary  Fair,  and  also  for  a  meeting 
of  delegates  from  the  County  Aid  Societies  on  next  Friday.  A 
committee  was  appointed  to  secure  Powers  Hall  for  the  entire 
week  of  the  Fair  for  the  use  of  the  Sanitary  Fair. 

"August  12.  A  committee  of  ladies  from  the  Long  Creek  and 
Mount  Zion  Aid  Societies  met  with  us,  to  talk  over  arrangements 
for  the  State  Fair." 

So  absorbing  was  the  interest  in  the  Sanitary  Fair,  that  no 
meetings  of  the  Aid  Society  were  held  for  a  month. 

On  "October  9,  on  motion  of  Mrs.  Millikin,  Mrs.  Cass,  Mrs. 
Condell  and  Mrs.  Ryan  were  appointed  a  committee  to  nominate 
officers  for  the  ensuing  year." 

October  14.  It  was  decided  to  hold  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
"Society  next  Friday.  An  oyster  supper  will  be  given  at  the 
same  time.  The  committee  on  nominations  reported.  Mrs.  Johns 
moved  that  the  name  of  Mrs.  Evans  should  be  substituted  for 
that  of  Mrs.  Johns  as  candidate  for  President.  The  report  of 
the  committee  as  amended  was  accepted." 

The  names  of  officers  nominated  are  not  given. 

"October  21.  The  annual  meeting  of  the  "Society"  was  held 
at  Powers  Hall.  The  evening  was  very  stormy  and  the  attend- 
ance of  ladies  small.  One  hundred  and  twenty-one  persons  be- 


216  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

came  members  of  the  "Society"  for  the  coming  year.  Of  these, 
thirty-four  were  ladies  and  eighty-seven  gentlemen.  Only  thir- 
teen of  the  ladies  registered  have  ever  attended  the  meetings  of 
the  society,  and  at  least  three-fourths  of  the  gentlemen  are  en- 
tirely new  members  and  contributors." 

For  the  first  time  since  the  organization  of  the  Society  there 
was  an  opposition  ticket  and  we  had  our  first  lesson  in  practical 
politics.  The  new  ticket  made  its  first  appearance  at  five  o'clock 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  election.  It  was  announced  that  the  polls 
would  open  at  seven  o'clock  and  close  at  nine.  The  majority  of 
the  new  members  filed  into  the  hall,  after  eight  o'clock,  registered, 
paid  their  quarter  and  handed  in  their  folded  ballot.  They  then 
ordered  oysters,  which  were  paid  for  with  a  ten  dollar  bill,  and 
took  their  departure,  having  for  the  first  and  last  time  participated 
in  a  meeting  of  the  Hospital  Aid  Society. 

The  annual  report  follows : 

Third  Annual  Report  of  the  Decatur  Hospital  Aid  Society. 

During  the  past  year  this  society  has  held  forty-eight  meetings  for 
work.  The  attendance  ranged  from  six  to  eighty-nine,  the  average  being 
seventeen. 

There  has  been  made  into  hospital  bedding  and  clothing,  seven  hundred 
and  thirty-one  yards  of  muslin,  one  hundred  and  thirteen  of  burlaps  and 
ticking,  seventy  of  calico,  ninety-eight  of  crash  and  seventy-five  of  flannel. 
These  articles  have  been  sent  to  the  army  through  the  State  Sanitary 
Commission.  A  large  portion  of  the  fruit  and  clothing  was  sent  to  the 
hospital  at  Camp  Butler.  A  number  of  articles  have  been  furnished  sick 
soldiers  at  home. 

Mr.  Barnwell  has  furnished  the  "Society"  a  room  for  meeting  with 
all  necessary  fuel  and  every  comfort  his  gallery  affords,  free  of  charge. 
The  officers  of  the  "Society"  are  also  under  obligations  to  him  for  much 
assistance  in  forwarding  and  purchasing  goods  and  many  other  favors. 
We  wish  also  to  present  our  thanks  to  the  Odd  Fellows,  for  the  use  of 
their  ante-room  for  storing  our  goods.  Mr.  James  Shoaff,  of  the  Magnet, 
offered  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  to  do  the  printing  of  the  society,  and 
donate  his  bill.  The  society  voted  to  accept  this  generous  offer,  and  in 
accordance  with  this  resolution  Mr.  Shoaff  has  printed  and  posted  large 
and  elegant  hand-bills  for  our  festivals  and  lectures.  His  receipted  bill 
of  $60  was  donated  to  the  society  this  week,  for  which  he  has  our  thanks. 

The  treasury  of  the  society  has  been  replenished  during  the  past  year 
by  three  festivals,  the  net  proceeds  of  which  were  $416.00.  On  the  first 
of  April  a  number  of  young  ladies  connected  with  the  society,  gave  two 
tableaux  entertainments,  and  donated  the  proceeds  of  their  efforts  to  the 
society. 

During  the  winter  an  effort  was  made  to  substitute  a  course  of  lectures 
for  the  usual  festivals  given  by  the  society,  but  the  effort  proved  almost 
an  entire  failure.  The  fund  produced  by  these  lectures  were  $33.05 ; 
$29.30  of  which  has  been  expended  for  the  relief  of  soldiers'  families; 


AID  SOCIETY'S  BIGGEST  YEAR  217 

$18  has  been  given  to  sick  volunteers  passing  thro'  the  town,  to  assist  them 
on  their  way;  $11.00  has  been  given  to  the  sick  volunteers  at  home. 

The  following  articles  have  been  shipped  to  Camp  Butler  and  south 
through  the  Sanitary  Commissions  and  to  persons  of  the  ngth  regiment  in 
prison  at  Richmond:  Flannel  shirts,  6;  sheets,  82;  feather  pillows,  21; 
shirts,  45 ;  flannel  drawers,  25  pairs ;  cotton  drawers,  40  pairs ;  bed  sacks, 
32;  pillow  ticks,  44;  pillow  cases,  136;  comforts,  9;  towels,  78;  napkins,  54; 
handkerchiefs,  46 ;  socks,  27  pair ;  mocassins,  10 ;  coats,  9 ;  vests,  i ;  120 
pounds  prepared  rags;  200  rolls  bandages;  5  pounds  lint;  161  quarts  canned 
fruit ;  4  pounds  dried  cherries ;  ^2  bushel  dried  apples ;  7  gallons  pickles ;  13 
pounds  butter ;  6  pounds  dried  beef ;  25  pounds  bologna  sausage ;  5  pounds 
bacon ;  25  pounds  rice ;  20  pounds  cheese ;  7  pounds  tobacco ;  6  pounds 
pepper ;  I  sack  salt ;  3  pounds  castile  soap ;  24  mugs ;  3  quarts  cordial ;  2 
dozen  envelopes ;  2  dozen  postage  stamps ;  2  quires  paper  and  large  quan- 
tities of  reading  matter.  A  sick  soldier  was  furnished  with  2  pair  drawers, 
2  shirts  and  2  pair  socks.  There  is  remaining  on  hand  in  the  society  13 
pair  drawers,  16  towels,  19  sheets,  4  shirts  and  40  quarts  of  canned  fruit. 

When  three  years  ago  this  society  was  organized,  it  was  supposed 
that  a  few  weeks  or  months,  at  least,  would  be  all  that  would  be  required. 
The  least  sanguine  observer  believed,  that  after  the  wants  of  the  sick  and 
wounded  of  the  winter  of  1862,  that  no  more  calls  upon  the  benevolence 
and  patriotism  of  our  citizens  would  be  made  for  the  purpose  of  this 
society.  When  in  the  winter  of  '62  the  president  of  the  society  offered 
her  resignation,  it  was  refused,  because  the  labors  of  the  society  were 
supposed  to  be  ended.  But  after  6  weeks  rest,  the  battle  of  Shiloh  proved 
to  all,  that  so  long  as  war  raged,  every  loyal  woman  who  loved  her  coun- 
try and  its  brave  defenders,  must  work.  The  society  was  again  called 
together,  and  for  three  years  have  worked  unremittingly.  During  these 
three  years,  $2,500  in  money  has  been  raised  by  the  society,  through  festi- 
vals, concerts,  tableaux,  etc.  The  value  of  articles  contributed  for  hos- 
ital  purposes  will  swell  the  amount  of  the  direct  contributions  of  our 
society  to  the  comfort  of  these  who  have  risked  life  and  health  in  our 
defense,  to  over  $5,000.  Nor  is  this  sum  all  that  the  citizens  of  Decatur 
have  contributed  to  this  noble  cause.  Last  year  when  the  brave  armv 
before  Vicksburg  were  calling  upon  the  country  for  help  in  their  extrem- 
ity, $15.00  was  contributed  to  the  fund  for  their  relief  through  the  efforts 
of  our  treasurer. 

The  great  Sanitary  Fair,  which  will  add  at  least  $20,000  to  the  fund 
of  our  State  Sanitary  Commission,  was  first  proposed  in  our  society,  and 
is  largely  indebted  for  its  success  to  those  who  have  always  been  our  most 
active  workers.  Decatur  contributed  in  cash  to  the  fair,  nearly  $2,100 
and  may  well  be  proud  of  the  part  she  may  claim  in  its  success.  Nor  must 
we  deem  our  work  ended  here.  Though  other  urgent  calls  upon  our  char- 
ities and  labor  will  have  to  be  met,  we  must  not  feel  that  because  we  have 
done  so  much,  that  we  can  do  no  more,  every  day  and  every  hour  adds 
to  the  number  of  those,  who  but  for  the  labors  of  such  societies  as  ours, 
would  perish  on  the  battlefield,  from  wounds  received  in  our  defense. 

We  are  able  to  meet  every  demand  our  country  makes  upon  us;  our 
soldiers'  families  must  be  cared  for,  their  orphans  educated  and  their 
own  wants  supplied.  We  can  do  all,  aye,  we  will  do  all  this  and  more. 
Who  in  this  community  can  say  that  he  has  been  impoverished  by  the 
thousands  of  dollars  which  have  been  contributed  by  our  citizens  to  this 
good  work.  Who  has  been  deprived  of  one  comfort,  or  even  denied 
himself  one  luxury  to  contribute  to  this  great  end. 

Yet,  if  sacrifices  are  needed,  if  our  ladies  must  dispense  with  their 


218  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

silks  and  jewels,  if  our  tables  must  be  deprived  of  a  few  of  the  luxuries 
under  which  they  groan,  that  our  soldiers'  wives  and  children  may  be 
made  comfortable,  the  sacrifice  will  be  made.  Never  has  the  loyal  heart 
of  Decatur  been  appealed  to  in  vain. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  society  held  on  Friday  evening,  October 
21,  there  were  121  persons  became  members  of  the  society  for  the  coming 
year.  Of  these  34  were  ladies,  and  87  were  gentlemen. 

A  gratifying  evidence  of  the  new  interest  taken  in  the  society  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  only  13  of  these  have  ever  attended  one  working  meeting 
of  the  last  two  years.  Of  the  gentlemen  who  so  patriotically  gave  their 
names,  their  quarters  and  their  votes,  more  than  £4  are  entirely  new  con- 
tributors, and  we  hope  that  the  soldiers  will  reap  a  rich  harvest  from  the 
labors  and  contributions  of  these  new  members. 

118  votes  were  cast,  and  the  result  was  the  election  of  the  following 
officers : 

Mrs.  James  Millikin,  President. 

Mrs.  S.  F.  Greer,  Vice  President.. 

Mrs.  Jack  Jones,  Secretary. 

Mrs.  J.  R.  Gorin,  Treasurer. 

Directresses,  Mrs.  Winholtz,  Mrs.  S.  Smith,  Mrs.  Bright,  Miss  M. 
Carter,  Mrs.  S.  Packard. 

There  was  received  as  the  proceeds  of  the  annual  meeting : 

From   membership    fees $30.25 

From  Oyster  and  cider  tables 50.10 


$8035 
The  exenses  were : 

Hall    rent $10.00 

Oysters,  cider,  crackers,  etc 16.40 


$26.40 

Net  proceeds    $63.85 

Mrs.  E.  J.  Evans,  President. 
Mrs.  H.  C.  Johns,  Sec. 

Thus  ended  the  most  strenuous  year's  work  of  the  Aid  Society. 
The  Sanitary  Fair  had  taxed  the  strength  and  energy  of  its  work- 
ers to  their  utmost  extent.  Ten  social  entertainments  had  been 
held  in  Powers  Hall,  each  involving  at  least  two  days  of  hard  labor 
on  the  part  of  those  few  who  worked.  There  was  always  abund- 
ant help  when  the  evening's  entertainment  began.  The  social  and 
ornamental  corps  of  workers  was  generally  prompt,  and  for 
emergencies  or  rush  work,  there  was  a  superabundance  of  help ; 
but  the  appalling  work  required  to  purchase  materials,  distribute 
and  superintend  the  work  at  the  weekly  meetings,  prepare  for  a. 
social  entertainment  once  a  month,  visit  the  depot  every  evening, 
and  relieve  the  wants  of  the  soldiers'  families  had  been  faithfully 
performed  by  the  same  band  of  willing  workers  who,  in  1861, 
had  assumed  the  responsibility.  I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to 


AID  SOCIETY'S  BIGGEST  YEAR  219 

render  a  proper  tribute  to  their  devotion.  Their  bond  of  sym- 
pathy was  love  of  country,  not  family  nor  church  nor  social 
environment.  The  friendships  so  formed  have  lasted  through  life. 

One  of  the  most  permanent,  far  reaching  and  important  re- 
sults of  the  war  for  the  Union,  was  the  emancipation  of  the 
Church  from  the  shackles  of  sectarianism  and  the  adoption  of  the 
Brotherhood  of  Man  as  one  of  the  tenets  of  Christianity. 

As  women  were  compelled  by  necessity  to  burst  the  bonds  of 
conventionality,  so  a  common  devotion  to  country,  unconsciously 
swept  away  the  narrow  prejudices  of  creed  and  Christians  of  all 
denominations,  worked  together  for  God  and  our  Native  Land. 

The  first  board  of  "Directresses"  of  the  Hospital  Aid  Society 
was  selected,  one  from  each  church.  They  met  almost  as  strang- 
ers, without  one  thought  of  Protestant,  Catholic,  Orthodox  or 
Universalist,  sinner  or  saint.  One  common  bond  of  patriotism 
welded  them  together  in  that  charity  which  "beareth  all  things, 
hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things"  so  that  "we,  being  many, 
were  one  body  in  Christ,  and  every  one  members  of  one  another." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
LAST  YEAR  OF  AID  SOCIETY. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Society,  after  the  election  of  1864, 
Mrs.  S.  F.  Greer  resigned  her  office  of  vice-president. 

The  secretary's  book  resumes  the  record  on  March  iQth,  1865. 

The  weekly  records  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Aid  Society  have  not 
been  kept  as  heretofore,  owing  to  a  failure  in  attendance  on  the  part  of  the 
Secretary,  but  as  minute  and  correct  a  report  of  the  business  of  the  first 
three  months  of  this  year  as  can  be  made  from  the  notes  preserved,  will 
perhaps  be  satisfactory. 

A  festival  was  held  on  Thanksgiving  eve.,  and  in  view  of  the  anticipated 
suffering  of  the  poor,  aside  from  soldiers'  families,  (the  legitimate  objects 
of  the  Aid's  beneficence)  the  proceeds  were  to  be  held  separately,  and 
used  indiscriminately  for  their  relief.  The  receipts  were  $525.45,  which 
were  given  in  charge  of  Mr.  Gorin,  the  treasurer  of  the  Aid  Society,  sub- 
ject to  the  orders  of  the  ladies  appointed  to  investigate  and  relieve  the 
necessities  of  the  unfortunate.  That  this  duty  was  faithfully  executed, 
the  names  of  the  ladies  afford  sufficient  attestation.  Mrs.  Cass,  Mrs.  Lib- 
by,  Mrs.  Ryan,  Mrs.  Barber,  Mrs.  Evans,  Mrs.  Millikin,  Mrs.  Condell, 
Mrs.  Wessels,  and  Mrs.  Hays  have  indeed,  been  sisters  of  mercy,  in  the 
dispensation  of  food,  raiment  and  fuel  to  those  whose  privations  were  real 
and  distressing.  Many,  not  members  of  the  Aid  Society,  were  zealous 
co-workers  in  this  enterprise.  The  work  did  not  interfere  with  the  regular 
meetings  of  the  society. 

This  is  the  first  time  the  work  of  the  Relief  Society  was  re- 
corded in  the  minutes  of  the  Aid  Society.  I  am  very  glad  that  this 
one  record  for  three  months  has  been  preserved.  It  is  a  fair 
specimen  of  the  character  of  the  work  done  by  the  Aid  society 
for  three  years,  though  conducted  under  another  name  and  not 
reported  in  the  records  of  the  Society. 

A  list  of  the  articles  purchased  and  donated,  will  afford  some 
idea  of  the  amount  of  work  accomplished  in  four  months. 

New  Articles : 

Shoes,  24  pr.  Tea,  eggs,  beef,  turnips,  Dresses,  27 

Drawers,  28  pr.  etc-.   (for  sick)  Hose'  63  P^- 

Dressing  gown,  I  Boots,  2  P£  TB.°ys>  caPf>  I0, 

r     .,    ,?.  Chemise,  28  Lmsey,  26^  yds. 

Garibaldi,    I  Aprons,  45  Delaine,  23  yds. 

Loats,  2  Jeans,  38  yds.  Muslin,  170  yds. 

Unbleached   shirting,  Linsey  shirts,  6  Thread,  buttons,  etc. 

33  yds.  Striped  shirting,  33  yds.   Meal,  6  bushels 

220 


LAST  YEAR  OF  AID  SOCIETY  221 

Drilling,  8  yds.  Flannel,  7  yds.  Washboiler 

Wood,  15  loads  Flour,  26  sacks 

Second  hand  articles,  repaired  at  expense  of  Society  and  distributed: 
Shoes,  58  pr.  Aprons,  58  Hose,  78  pr. 

Hoods,  91  Sacques,  9  Children's  dresses,  5 

Pants,  29  Shawls,  7  Sheets,  5 

Hats,  7  Coats,  22  Nubias,   i 

Tippets,   2  Shakers,  5  Small  blankets,  6 

Boots,  3  pr.  Blankets,  2  Shirts,  2 

Dresses,  n  Bed  quilts,  2 

Muslin,  18  yds.  Nightgowns,  3 

The  whole  amount  has  been  expended  according  to  the  best  judgment 
of  those,  whose  laborious  duty  it  was  to  serve  as  almoners  to  such  as  must 
have  perished,  without  assistance. 

The  regular  Friday  meetings  of  the  Society  have  been  well  attended. 
One  box  has  been  sent  to  the  Soldiers'  Home,  Springfield,  earnest  solici- 
tations for  assistance  having  reached  us  from  there.  Contents  of  box 
as  follows : 

Dressing  gown,  I  Shirts,  39  Drawers,   13  pr. 

Sheets,  22  Pillow   cases,   30  Towels,  16 

Bandages,  37  Magazines,  37  Bundle  lint,   I 

Bundle  rags,  6  Newspapers,   34  Handkerchiefs,  7 

Coat,  I  Socks,  22  pr. 

As  the  result  of  two  evening  sociables,  held  at  Powers  Hall,  we  have 
$209.79,  clear  of  expenses.  As  usual,  expenses  were  much  reduced  by 
donations. 

Prof.  Wilber  assisted  the  Society  to  the  extent  of  $30.64,  being  half 
the  proceeds  of  a  lecture  delivered  for  that  purpose. 

Two  donations  of  $5  each  were  received. 

Ten  dollars  were  given  to  a  soldier's  wife  who  was  going  to  Arkansas 
Post,  to  her  husband,  $15  to  another  who  wished  to  go  to  friends  in  Ohio. 

The  use  of  Macon  Hall,  free  of  charge,  has  been  tendered  by  Messrs. 
Dpdson  and  Priest  for  any  sociable  or  entertainment  the  Aid  Society  may 
wish  to  give. 

New  members  were  enrolled. 

March  17,  1865.  Society  rooms  open  for  work,  27  ladies  present.  A 
letter  was  read  by  the  secretary,  from  Mrs.  Tilton,  Soldiers'  Home,  Spring- 
field. 

Mrs.  Jones,  secretary,  sent  in  her  resignation.  It  was  accepted  and 
Mrs.  R.  H.  Murphy  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

It  was  decided  by  a  majority  of  the  ladies  present  to  send  the  box 
then  ready  to  be  packed  to  the  Christian  Commission.  Accordingly,  a  box 
was  packed  and  shipped,  2oth  inst.,  to  the  Christian  Commission,  contain- 
ing the  following  articles.  (List  included  in  semi-annual  report.) 

March  24.  20  ladies  present.  A  box  containing  62  qts.  canned  fruit 
was  sent  to  Soldiers'  Home,  Springfield,  Ills.  25  inst. 

_  March  31.  Sec.  read  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Tilton,  Springfield,  acknowl- 
edging the  box  of  canned  fruit  sent,  and  soliciting  all  kinds  of  sanitary 
stores,  there  being  now  at  Camp  Butler  thirteen  hundred  sick  soldiers. 

Resolved,  To  raise  money  for  Society  by  direct  solicitation,  rather  than 
by  festival  or  other  entertainment.  Mrs.  Curtis,  Mrs.  Wessels,  Mrs.  Lit- 
ten,  the  Misses  Harwood,  Mitchell,  Smith,  Miller,  and  Cowgill  were 
appointed  solicitors. 

April  14.     The  propriety  of  sending  a  delegation   of   ladies  to  visit 


222  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

Camp  Butler  and  the  Soldiers'  Home,  Springfield,  was  discussed.  It  was 
thought,  as  we  were  sending  most  of  our  supplies  there,  it  would  be  proper 
to  see  how  they  were  dispensed,  and  that  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
matrons  and  managers  would  give  greater  zest  to  our  work.  Four  ladies 
were  appointed  to  go  next  week. 

April  21.  The  ladies  who  went  to  Springfield  carried  a  basket  of  deli- 
cacies to  the  soldiers.  The  officers  of  the  Society  have  donated  to  the 
Christian  Commission  $50,  there  being  an  urgent  call  for  money  after  the 
fall  of  Richmond ;  also  $8  to  help  an  old  lady  to  friends  in  Ind. 

April  28.  Our  canvassers  who  have  been  soliciting  funds,  have  raised 
about  $300. 

May  5.  A  box  of  reading  matter  has  been  sent  south,  through  the 
Sanitary  Commission. 

A  box  containing  19  qts.  of  canned  fruit  has  also  been  sent  to  Spring- 
field. 

May  19.     The  last  meeting  of  the  society  was  held  today,  at  Mrs. 
Millikin's.     While  all  rejoiced  that  there  no  longer  existed   any   urgent 
need  for  our  labors,  it  was  with  some  sadness  the  Society  was  disbanded. 
We  have  worked  together  long  and  hard,  but  it  has  been  a  labor  of  love. 
SEMI-ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  AID  SOCIETY. 

The  ladies  of  the  Society  have  been  untiring  in  their  labors  for  the 
soldiers,  during  the  past  six  months,  as  heretofore.  Indeed  their  zeal  to 
provide  for  the  comfort  of  our  heroes,  and  to  do  them  honor,  seems  to 
wax  warmer  and  warmer  as  they  contemplate  the  near  approach  of  the 
close  of  their  labors,  in  this  department. 

Those  not  acquainte'd  with  the  operations  of  the  Society  will  be  sur- 
prised at  the  amount  of  labor  performed. 

The  principle  upon  which  the  Hospital  Aid  Society  of  Decatur  has 
worked  has  not  been  a  flash  to  die  out  when  the  excitement  that  goaded 
it  on  ceased,  but  it  has  been  that  steady  flame  of  patriotism  which  burns 
brightest,  longest  and  purest  in  a  true  woman's  heart.  The  terrible  sacri- 
fices which  the  loyal  woman  of  the  north  have  made  during  the  last  four 
years,  will  not  have  been  in  vain.  It  will  tell  upon  the  generation  soon  to 
take  the  place  of  our  brave  heroes  in  the  field,  and  legislative  halls,  our 
citizen  soldiery,  and  martyred  dead.  It  is  she  who  will  teach  your  sons 
patriotism — such  patriotism  as  the  world  seldom  sees.  She  has  felt  and 
suffered.  How  much,  God  alone  knows,  and  she  cannot  soon  forget.  Her 
hands  have  not  been  taught  to  war  nor  her  fingers  to  fight,  (nevertheless, 
they  have  not  been  idle),  but  her  heart  has  been  taught  to  feel,  and  it  is 
this  feeling  which  prompts  her  to  action.  So  long  as  she  has  a  country 
to  love,  she  will  love  it.  So  long  as  her  country  has  sons  to  suffer,  she 
will  work.  This  has  been  the  motive  power  in  the  Aid  Society.  It  did 
not  run  well  for  a  while  and  then  die  out. 

It  is  due  to  the  ladies  who  met  weekly  to  ply  the  busy  needle,  to  say 
that  their  labors  will  compare  favorably  with  what  has  been  done  in  the 
same  length  of  time  in  any  previous  year,  unless  it  be  the  first  year.  All 
praise  to  the  working  members  of  the  Society,  and  that  number  has  not 
been  small.  The  meetings  have  been  well  and  regularly  attended,  the  aver- 
age being  28,  an  increase  of  n  over  the  average  attendance  of  last  year. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  amounts  distributed  by  the  Society 
and  the  amount  of  work  performed. 

To  Christian  Commission  $50. 

To  soldiers'  families  to  help  reach  friends  in  different  states,  $32. 

421  articles  of  second  hand  clothing  have  been  repaired  and  distrib- 
uted to  soldiers'  families. 


LAST  YEAR  OF  AID  SOCIETY  223 

247  new  articles  of  clothing,  356  yds.  of  cloth,  15  loads  of  wood,  28 
sacks  of  flour,  6  bu.  of  meal,  and  tea,  beef,  turnips,  onions,  etc.,  also  $37 
for  medicine  for  the  sick. 

The  following  articles  have  been  sent  to  the  hospitals  through  the 
Sanitary  Commission,  and  managers  of  the  Soldiers'  Home,  Springfield. 
Shirts,   112  Drawers,  30  prs.  Sheets,  112 

Pillowcases,  148  Towels,  122  Bundle  lint,  I 

Socks,  57  pr.  Coat,  i  H'dk'f's,  50 

Bundles  rags,  23  Rolls  bandages,  206          Comforts,  18 

Slippers,  32  Arm  pads,  17  Napkins,  55 

Vests,  3  Dressing  gown,  I  Dried  apples,  3  pecks 

Pillows,  25  Tobacco,  8  Ibs.  Bottle  of  wine,  I 

Dried  peaches,  2  Ibs.         Dried  berries,  12  Ibs.        Pepper,  6  Ibs. 
Canned  fruits,  86  qts.       Sardines,  2*bx.  Castile  soap,  4  Ibs. 

Cheese,  23  Ibs.  Salt,  2  sacks  Bologna  sausage,  21  Ibs. 

Rice,  26  Ibs.  Dried  beef,  7  Ibs.  Magazines,  89 

Envelopes,  4  doz.  Letter  paper,  2  qrs. 

Papers,  378  Bed  ticks,  40 

The  treasury  of  the  Society  has  been  replenished  by  the  proceeds  of 
two  festivals,  donations  to  the  amount  of  $60  &  $95.17  received  from  young 
misses,  half  of  which  was  to  be  distributed  to  the  poor.  Also  about  $300 
have  been  secured  by  direct  solicitation,  and  our  thanks  are  due  to  the 
gentlemen  who  so  liberally  responded  to  the  call.  It  is  hoped  the  time  is 
very  near  when  such  calls  upon  the  liberality  of  our  citizens  will  cease. 

The  thanks  of  the  society  are  particularly  due  to  Messrs.  Harrison 
and  Maxey  for  furnishing  a  room  for  meeting,  with  all  the  conveniences 
their  gallery  afforded;  and  to  Messrs  Priest  and  Dodson  for  offering 
their  hall  free  of  charge. 

The  Society  voted  to  distribute  the  few  articles  of  clothing  and  some 
material  on  hand  to  the  poor,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  for  that 
purpose. 

A  few  little  articles  belonging  to  the  society  were  voted  to  the  differ- 
ent members,  the  stencil  plate  to  Mrs.  Libbey,  the  needle  book  to  Mrs. 
Millikin,  and  the  secretary's  book  to  myself. 

Signed, 

Mrs.  James  Millikin,  Pres. 
Mrs.  R.  H.  Murphy,  Sec. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
THE  STATE  SANITARY  FAIR. 

The  political  campaign  of  1864  was  a  peculiarly  bitter  one. 
No  effort  was  spared  by  the  opposition  to  discredit  Mr.  Lincoln, 
the  Army  or  the  Sanitary  Commission  and  so  persistent  were  the 
charges  of  graft  and  dishonesty  in  the  disposition  of  the  gifts  of 
the  people  to  the  suffering  soldiers,  that  the  revenues  of  the  Com- 
mission had  seriously  decreased.  The  demand  for  hospital  sup- 
plies was  greater  than  ever  before  and  the  friends  of  the  soldiers 
believed  that  some  extraordinary  effort  was  necessary  to  prevent 
serious  suffering. 

The  annual  fair  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society  furnished 
the  State  Sanitary  Commission  with  a  fine  occasion  for  presenting 
their  claims  to  the  generous  people.  "At  a  meeting  of  the  State 
Agricultural  Society,  held  at  the  fair  grounds  in  Decatur  July  29, 
1864,  it  was  resolved  to  sanction  the  connection  of  a  Sanitary 
Fair  with  the  Agricultural  Fair  to  be  held  in  Decatur  from  Sept. 
12  to  17  and  to  give  all  possible  aid  and  encouragement  to  the 
enterprise." 

On  August  6  the  State  Sanitary  Board  met  at  Springfield  and 
effected  an  organization  and  appointed  Dr.  H.  C.  Johns  chairman 
of  an  executive  committee,  the  members  of  which  were,  Mrs. 
Governor  Yates  of  Springfield,  Mrs.  Gen.  Oglesby  of  Decatur, 
Mrs.  Gen.  J.  D.  Webster  of  Chicago,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Van  Epps  of 
Dixon,  Mrs.  Judge  Trumbull  of  Chicago,  Mrs.  E.  H.  Beebe  of 
Galena,  Mrs.  L.  Tilton  of  Springfield,  Mrs.  I.  R.  Woods  of  Alton, 
Mrs.  J.  P.  Reynolds  of  Springfield,  Mrs.  A.  C.  Weagley  of  Or- 
leans, Mrs.  Paul  Selby  of  Jacksonville,  Mrs.  W.  Pickerell  of  Me- 
chanicsburg,  Mrs.  E.  J.  Bancroft  of  Jacksonville,  Mrs.  H.  N. 
Stoddard  of  Waverly,  Miss  Mary  J.  West  of  Galesburg,  Mrs. 
James  Jones  of  Decatur,  Mrs.  E.  J.  Evans  of  Decatur,  Mrs. 
Slaughter  of  Decatur,  Mrs.  Barber  of  Decatur,  Mrs.  William  H. 


224 


THE  STATE  SANITARY  FAIR  225 

Ennis  of  Decatur,  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Johns  of  Decatur  to  make  ar- 
rangements for  this  fair. 

Col.  John  R.  Woods,  secretary  of  the  board  of  commission- 
ers, issued  a  circular  to  the  people  of  the  State,  announcing  that 
the  "Directors  of  the  State  Sanitary  Commission  earnestly  wish- 
ing to  increase  their  facilities  for  a  more  vigorous  and  extensive 
prosecution  of  the  work  committed  to  their  management,  propose 
to  open  a  sanitary  department  at  the  State  Agricultural  Fair 
which  will  be  held  in  Decatur  from  the  I2th  to  the  I7th  days  of 
September." 

The  circular  was  a  long  and  patriotic  appeal  to  the  people  of 
the  State,  "calling  attention  to  the  work  and  its  object,"  and  solic- 
iting their  earnest  and  active  efforts  for  the  accomplishment  pf 
the  work  and  inviting  attention  to  the  following  outline  of  the 
plan  it  was  proposed  to  pursue. 

Contributions  of  articles  that  will  be  on  exhibition  at  the  Agricul- 
tural Fair  are  solicited  from  every  department  to  the  Sanitary  commission. 

It  is  understood  that  to  all  donated  articles,  additional  cards  will  be 
attached,  having  on  them  the  donors'  names,  the  price  at  which  he  or  she 
may  value  them,  and  indicating  the  sacred  use  to  which  they  are  set  apart. 

These  donated  articles  will  remain  in  their  respective  places,  subject 
to  the  regulations  of  the  fair.  They  should  be  shipped  to  the  care  of  Dr. 
H.  C.  Johns,  Decatur. 

A  large  and  commodious  hall  will  be  erected  for  the  reception  of 
sanitary  supplies.  It  will  be  beautifully  decorated  and  so  arranged  that 
a  space  will  be  devoted  to  each  of  over  one  hundred  counties,  presenting 
a  grand  and  novel  sight.  Connected  with  this  will  be  a  museum  of  tro- 
phies, gathered  from  every  battlefield  where  our  brave  sons  have  fallen, 
adorned  with  the  tattered  and  bullet-pierced  flags  of  their  regiments — 
the  honored  and  priceless  symbols  of  their  loss  and  their  glory.  Other 
objects  of  historic  interest  will  be  added  as  opportunities  may  admit. 
Everybody  should  be  trying  to  collect  specimens  that  will  add  beauty  or 
novelty  to  the  display. 

Clerks  will  be  appointed  who  will  keep  a  register  for  each  township 
and  county  of  all  contributions  made  by  its  citizens,  including  those  on 
exhibition  in  the  several  departments,  so  that  the  aggregates  from  any 
county  or  township  may  be  ascertained  on  examination.  County  or  town- 
ship pledges  will  also  be  entered  in  this  register  of  articles  not  brought 
to  the  fair,  but  actually  contributed  and  pledged  by  responsible  parties, 
to  be  held  subject  to  the  call  of  the  commission.  A  record  of  results  will 
be  made  up  from  these  registers  and  published  and  mailed  to  contributors. 
All  donated  articles  which  cannot  be  used  for  sanitary  purposes  will  be 
sold  at  the  valuation  of  the  donors,  at  such  times  as  will  not  interfere  with 
the  rules  of  the  fair ;  but  a  public  auction  of  machinery,  stock,  and  other 
contributions,  which  to  be  made  available  must  be  converted  into  money, 
will  be  held  at  stated  intervals  during  the  fair. 


226  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

The  first  meeting  of  the  committee  was  held  at  Decatur  Aug- 
ust 9,  and  at  which  the  following  organization  was  adopted : 

Officers. 

Hon.  Richard  Yates,  President. 

Hon.  O.  M.  Hatch,  Vice  President. 

Hon.  Jesse  K.  Dubois,  Vice  President. 

Hon.  Alex  Starne,  Vice  President. 

Honorary  Members — Lieutenant  General  U.  S.  Grant,  Major 
General  John  M.  Palmer,  Major  General  J.  A.  McClernand,  Ma- 
jor General  David  Hunter,  Major  General  S.  A.  Hurlbut,  Major 
General  R.  J.  Oglesby,  Major  General  John  A.  Logan,  Major 
General  B.  M.  Prentiss,  Major  General  John  Pope. 

Sanitary  Board — John  P.  Reynolds,  President ;  E.  B.  Hawley, 
Vice  President ;  John  Williams,  Treasurer ;  Robert  Irwin,  William 
Butler,  A.  C.  Fuller,  Adjutant  General;  J.  R.  Woods,  Recording 
Secretary. 

State  Board  of  Agriculture — J.  N.  Brown,  Ex-President;  C. 
W.  Webster,  Ex-President;  H.  C.  Johns,  Ex-President;  Lewis 
Ellsworth,  Ex-President;  W.  H.  Van  Epps,  President;  Charles 
H.  Rosenteil,  Vice  President;  A.  J.  Mattson,  R.  H.  Whiting,  R. 
A.  Holder,  James  W.  Singleton,  A.  B.  McConnell,  William  Kyle, 
William  S.  Wait,  H.  S.  Ozburn. 

Executive  Board — Dr.  H.  C.  Johns,  President;  Alonzo  Bur- 
gess, Secretary;  Lowber  Burrows,  Treasurer.  General  Corres- 
ponding Secretaries,  Mrs.  H.  C.  Johns,  Mrs.  James  Millikin. 

A  corresponding  secretary  for  each  congressional  district 
was  appointed,  as  follows :  First  district,  Mrs.  Hosmer,  Chicago  ; 
second,  Mrs.  J.  N.  Cunningham,  Rockford ;  third,  Miss  M.  Murt- 
feldt,  Mt.  Sterling;  fourth,  Mrs.  A.  J.  Morton,  Quincy ;  fifth, 
Miss  M.  J.  West,  Galesburg;  sixth,  Mrs.  Henshaw,  Ottawa; 
seventh,  Mrs.  Scroggs,  Champaign ;  eighth,  Mrs.  L.  Cavender, 
Eureka ;  ninth,  Mrs.  Colonel  Judy,  Tallula ;  tenth,  Miss  H.  Leigh- 
ton,  Manchester;  Eleventh,  Mrs.  G.  W.  Phillips,  Centralia; 
twelfth,  Mrs.  N.  E.  Draper,  Alton;  thirteenth,  Mrs.  Frances  D. 
Gage,  Carbondale. 

A  long  list  of  names  of  both  men  and  women  were  added  to 
the  executive  committee,  representing  every  county  in  the  state. 


THE  STATE  SANITARY  FAIR  227 

Mrs.  C.  P.  Chase  and  Colonel  T.  P.  Robb  were  appointed  by 
the  commission  to  canvass  the  state,  soliciting  donations,  and 
calling  the  attention  of  the  people  to  the  fair. 

Governor  Yates,  as  president  of  the  fair,  promised  every  as- 
sistance from  the  state  department,  and  with  his  usual  alacrity 
in  doing  everything  in  his  power  to  aid  in  sustaining  and  cheering 
our  soldiers  in  the  field,  issued  the  following  appeal : 

STATE  OF  ILLINOIS,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 

Springfield,  Aug.   n,   1864. 
To  the  people  of  the  state  of  Illinois : 

It  has  already  been  announced  to  you  that  a  state  sanitary  fair  will 
be  held  on  the  ground  and  during  the  annual  exhibition  of  the  Illinois 
State  Agricultural  society,  at  Decatur,  Sept.  12,  13,  14,  15,  16  and  17,  1864. 

In  view  of  the  necessities  of  the  case  and  demands  of  the  hour,  I  do 
earnestly  call  upon  you  to  respond  with  cheerful  hearts  and  liberal  hands 
to  the  appeals  made  to  you  in  behalf  of  our  brave  soldiers  in  the  field. 

Let  every  loyal  man  and  every  loyal  woman  of  Illinois  contribute  to 
the  utmost  of  his  or  her  ability,  in  needed  articles  and  in  money,  to  the 
sacred  purposes  and  objects  of  the  fair. 

Who  can  be  more  worthy  of  your  contributions  than  the  sick  and 
wounded  soldier  in  the  field  or  in  the  hospital,  or  his  distressed  family 
at  home? 

Many  good,  patriotic  and  benevolent  gentlemen  and  ladies  through- 
out the  state  are  devoting  their  time  and  efforts  to  make  the  sanitary  fair 
worthy  of  the  state  of  Illinois  and  of  the  brave  armies  she  has  sent  into 
the  field. 

All  the  flags  of  the  old  regiments,  tattered  and  bullet-pierced,  which 
have  been  borne  proudly  over  so  many  glorious  battle  fields,  besides  rebel 
flags  and  trophies  of  various  kinds  taken  from  the  enemy,  will  be  assigned 
a  special  department  in  the  fair,  and  will  richly  repay  the  visitors  from 
the  most  distant  part  of  the  state. 

Come,  then,  from  the  shores  of  the  lakes  and  rivers,  from  all  our  prai- 
ries and  groves,  and  pour  rich  treasures  into  the  hands  of  the  sanitary 
board  for  the  relief  of  our  soldiers,  and  all  who  love  the  country  will 
rise  up  and  call  you  blessed. 

RICHARD  YATES,  Governor. 

The  plan  of  operations  decided  upon  by  the  committee  was  to 
secure,  as  far  as  possible,  the  entire  victualing  privileges  of  the 
fair  grounds,  and  to  solicit  donations  of  provisions  to  supply  this 
department.  For  this  purpose  the  dining  hall  upon  the  fair 
grounds,  and  six  refreshment  booths,  were  rented  of  the  Macon 
County  Agricultural  society.  Soldiers'  Aid  Societies  from  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  state  were  solicited  to  take  charge  of  these  booths, 
each  society  furnishing  everything  consumed  in  its  department, 
and  conducting  it  to  suit  themselves,  and  rendering  the  net  pro- 
ceeds to  the  treasurer  of  the  fair. 


228        .  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

It  was  also  decided  to  build  a  large  hall,  to  be  called  Sanitary 
Bazaar  and  Museum,  in  which  should  be  exhibited  and  sold  all 
articles  donated  to  the  fair;  also,  all  the  battle  flags,  trophies, 
curiosities,  etc.,  which  could  be  collected,  making  this  department 
one  of  special  interest.  Donations  of  articles  exhibited  at  the 
State  Agricultural  fair  were  solicited,  and  a  systematic  plan  for 
canvassing  the  state  was  adopted,  by  which  every  county  and 
township  might  be  reached.  A  circular  letter  was  addressed  to 
some  prominent  gentleman  in  each  county  of  the  state,  requesting 
him  to  act  as  agent  for  his  county  in  appointing  committees  to 
canvass  every  township  and  also  to  keep  a  record  of  the  donations 
from  his  county,  and  report  to  the  secretary  of  the  fair. 

The  following  circular  of  instructions  to  canvassing  commit- 
tees was  adopted  and  forwarded  to  all  parts  of  the  state : 

Decatur,  Aug.  12,  1864. 

You  are  requested  by  the  executive  committee  of  the  state  sanitary 
fair,  to  solicit  in  your  neighborhood  donations  to  this  cause.  It  is  desired 
to  make  this  the  people's  fair,  and  that  every  individual  in  the  state  shall 
have  an  opportunity  to  contribute  according  to  his  ability. 

A  call  upon  every  laboring  man  is  made  for  the  proceeds  of  one  day's 
labor;  every  mechanic  for  some  specimen  of  his  skill;  every  farmer  for 
something  from  the  abundant  resources  of  his  farm ;  every  business  man 
for  something  amounting  to  the  profits  of  one  day's  business.  Ask  of 
grocers  such  articles  from  their  stock  as  will  be  useful  in  the  dining  hall 
or  refreshment  stalls ;  ask  from  every  housekeeper  something  from  her 
kitchen  or  garden,  if  nothing  more  than  a  bundle  of  rags  or  a  few  onions, 
beets  or  cabbages. 

From  counties  where  the  railroad  communication  with  Decatur  is 
direct,  special  efforts  should  be  made  to  secure  such  things  as  are  needed 
in  the  dining  hall  and  refreshment  booths.  Beef,  pork  or  mutton  can  be 
sent  alive  to  Decatur,  where  it  can  be  butchered,  or,  if  the  weather  will 
allow  it,  in  places  not  too  remote,  could  be  butchered  and  sent  in  quarters. 
Large  quantities  of  cake  of  every  kind  should  be  baked  and  carefully 
packed  to  send.  Cider  and  apples  in  large  quantities  are  wanted.  Articles 
too  bulky  for  shipment  to  Decatur,  and  not  useful  to  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission, (such  as  hay,  grain  or  wood,)  should  be  sold  at  the  nearest 
market,  and  a  certificate  of  the  amount  of  sale  given  to  the  donor,  and 
a  list  of  such  sales,  with  the  money,  sent  to  the  chairman  of  your  county 
committee,  to  be  added  to  the  aggregate  of  your  county  donations,  and  for- 
warded to  L.  Burrows,  treasurer  of  the  state  sanitary  fair,  Decatur,  111. 

You  can  secure  pledges  for  the  future  delivery  of  fruits,  vegetables, 
etc.,  subject  to  the  order  of  the  state  sanitary  commission,  and  add  the 
value  of  pledged  articles  to  your  list. 

Useful  and  fancy  articles  for  the  sanitary  bazaar,  with  pictures  and 
other  works  of  art,  should  be  contributed. 

It  is  desirable  that  a  report  of  the  probable  amount  of  contributions 
of  provisions  for  the  dining  hall  and  refreshment  stalls  should  be  sent  to 


THE  STATE  SANITARY  FAIR  229 

Decatur  as  early  as  possible,  in  order  that  the  committee  can  make  ar- 
rangements to  fill  up  deficiencies. 

Please  enter  upon  the  work  as  early  as  possible. 
Respectfully, 

H.  C.  Johns, 
Alonzo  Burgess,  Secretary.  Chairman  Executive  Committee. 

Thus  was  inaugurated  this  great  undertaking,  with  but  four 
weeks  to  do  the  entire  work.  During  this  time  locations  for  the 
hall  and  booths  were  selected,  the  buildings  planned,  erected  and 
decorated,  contracts  made  for  supplies,  contributions  solicited  and 
preparations  made  to  entertain  the  large  numbers  of  delegates 
who  by  invitation,  became  the  guests  of  the  Decatur  Hospital  Aid 
Society. 

Local  committees  were  appointed,  each  to  take  control  of  a 
special  department  of  the  work.  Business  men,  mechanics,  labor- 
ers and  house  keepers,  gave  a  stipulated  number  of  hours  each  day 
to  the  preparations  for  the  fair. 

Eight  boys  with  four  one  horse  delivery  wagons  volunteered 
to  report  at  the  fair  grounds  every  morning  to  "fetch  and  carry." 

A  corps  of  about  twenty  young  ladies  was  organized  to  act  as 
general  utility  committee  and  reported  either  at  the  fair  grounds 
or  to  the  corresponding  secretary  every  day,  to  be  assigned  to 
whatever  work  was  found  for  them  to  do.  This  committee  se- 
cured lodging  and  breakfast  for  eighty  delegates.  Almost  imme- 
diately, letters  of  inquiry  began  to  pour  in  on  the  corresponding 
secretary.  The  questions  were  so  varied  and  referred  to  so  many 
different  subjects  that  it  was  impossible  to  adopt  a  circular  form 
of  an  answer,  so  each  individual  letter  had  to  receive  a  specific 
reply.  I  have  before  me  a  letter  addressed  to  Mrs.  Philips,  the 
chairman  of  the  Egyptian  Booth,  which  closes  thus.  "Excuse 
the  briefness  of  this  letter,  it  is  midnight  and  I  have  been  writing 
steadily  for  five  hours." 

On  Monday  morning,  September  12,  every  thing  was  ready 
for  the  throng  of  visitors  who  had  commenced  to  arrive  the  Sat- 
urday before,  and  on  Tuesday,  September  13,  the  fair  was  form- 
ally opened  by  an  address  from  Governor  Yates. 

Secretary  Wood,  in  transmitting  the  report  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  fair  to  John  P.  Reynolds,  President  of  the 
State  Sanitary  Commission,  says : 


230  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

The  management  and  results  of  this  combined  effort  of  the  friends 
of  the  soldier  to  promote  the  sanitary  cause,  are  fully  set  forth  in  the  com- 
prehensive report  of  its  executive  committee. 

The  annual  fair  of  the  Illinois  State  Agricultural  society  furnished 
the  sanitary  commission  with  a  fine  occasion  for  presenting  the  claims  of 
their  enterprise  to  the  general  people  of  the  state,  and,  while  they  feel  sat- 
isfied that  the  sanitary  departments  contributed  largely  to  swell  the  receipts 
of  the  Agricultural  society,  they  are  not  insensible  to  the  obligations  they 
are  under  to  the  society's  excellent  liberal  executive  board,  for  the  privi- 
lege of  occupying  for  the  purpose,  the  beautiful  Fair  Park  of  Decatur, 
and  the  facilities  and  encouragement  given  them  on  every  hand. 

To  the  great-hearted  and  whole-souled  inhabitants  of  that  flourishing 
city  is  our  cause  indebted  for  innumerable  and  valuable  favors.  Its  lead- 
ing citizens,  upon  the  first  announcement  from  this  office  that  it  was  de- 
termined to  hold  a  sanitary  fair  on  their  magnificent  grounds,  went  to 
work  with  alacrity,  and,  in  conformity  with  a  request  of  the  sanitary 
board,  organized  a  most  efficient  executive  committee,  and,  in  a  short  time, 
effected  a  most  complete  arrangement.  The  entire  control  was  placed  in 
their  hands;  and  although  they  had  but  four  weeks  in  which  to  complete 
their  preparations,  everything  seemed  to  be  done  that  was  necessary. 

The  principal  correspondence  between  the  executive  committee  and 
this  office  was  conducted  on  their  behalf  by  Mrs.  Dr.  H.  C.  Johns,  and  to 
her  indefatigable  exertions  must  be  attributed  a  large  share  of  the  suc- 
cess that  attended  the  undertaking. 

In  submitting  the  report  of  the  action  of  the  executive  committee, 
appointed  by  your  board,  to  conduct  the  sanitary  department  of  the  late 
state  fair,  great  difficulty  exists  in  giving  the  exact  history  of  the  sources 
of  receipts,  etc.  As  the  time  for  organization  was  so  short,  and  the  work 
one  of  such  magnitude,  much  confusion  necessarily  exists  in  recording 
the  action  of  many  portions  of  the  state. 

The  sanitary  hall,  a  building  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  with  an  area  of 
eight  thousand  feet,  was  decorated  with  evergreens  and  festooned  with 
red,  white  and  blue.  Nearly  fifty  war-worn  banners,  which  have  been 
returned  to  the  state  as  sacred  relics  and  mementoes  of  the  valor  of  Illi- 
nois soldiers,  were  hung  in  conspicuous  positions,  and  almost  every  victory 
of  the  war  was  found  emblazoned  upon  these  honored  historians  of  the 
great  struggle  for  liberty  and  good  government.  Many  trophies  captured 
from  our  enemies  added  to  the  interest  of  this  department  of  the  fair. 
The  tables  were  filled  with  specimens  of  the  skill  and  industry  of  the 
ladies  of  the  state. 

The  young  ladies  of  the  Springfield  High  School  Aid  society  occupied 
the  booth  in  the  center  of  the  hall,  with  a  magnificent  display  of  fancy 
and  useful  articles,  from  the  sale  of  which  they  reported  to  the  treasurer, 
$475.25. 

Knox  and  LaSalle  Counties  occupied  the  eastern  wing  of  the  hall 
with  a  fine  display.  Although  but  a  few  weeks  had  elapsed  since  a  fair  for 
the  same  purpose  had  been  held  at  Galesburg  in  Knox  county,  yet  Knox 
county  contributed  $5,606.93,  and  as  a  county  stands  at  the  head  of  con- 
tributors to  this  fair.  Miss  Mary  A.  West,  the  indefatigable  correspond- 
ing secretary  for  the  fifth  congressional  district,  has  proved  that  a  syste- 
matic effort  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  keep  up  a  constant  flow  of  benefac- 
tions into  the  treasury  of  the  sanitary  commission. 

(The  Galesburg  D.  A.  R.  have  responded  to  our  request  for 
statistics  of  "what  the  women  did"  in  the  war,  with  a  very  full 


THE  STATE  SANITARY  FAIR  231 

and  interesting  report  from  that  society  which  will  be  found  in 
the  supplement.) 

The  LaSalle  county  Ladies'  association,  represented  by  Mrs.  I.  V.  A. 
Hors,  and  Mrs.  George  Avery  of  Ottawa,  contributed  a  large  number  of 
beautiful  articles,  and  reported  to  the  treasurer,  $342.80  as  the  proceeds 
of  their  sales.  They  also  sent  donations  to  the  Southern  Illinois  fair,  held 
at  Sparta,  and  the  Western  Fair  held  at  Quincy.  Mrs.  Henshaw,  secre- 
tary of  their  society,  reports  the  entire  amount  of  donations  from  LaSalle 
county  at  $1,429.50,  seven  hundred  and  thirty-one  dollars  of  which  was 
hospital  stores  sent  to  Memphis. 

The  northern  portion  of  the  hall  was  occupied  by  the  ladies  of  Decatur, 
and  by  promiscuous  donations  from  other  portions  of  the  State.  Mrs. 
Col.  Judy  of  Menard  county  and  Mrs.  L.  R.  Cavender  of  Wopdford 
county,  assisted  in  the  care  of  this  portion  of  the  hall,  each  contributing 
from  their  counties  many  valuable  fancy  articles.  A  revolutionary  quilt, 
donated  by  Mrs.  Cavender,  to  be  presented  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  Gen.  Fremont 
or  Gen.  McClellan,  as  the  votes  of  the  people,  at  fifty  cents  a  vote,  should 
decide,  was  sent  to  the  Quincy  fair  for  futher  exhibition.  The  proceeds 
of  this  voting  was  $150.50. 

The  contributions  of  the  Quincy  Needle  Pickets,  and  of  the  Long 
Creek  Aid  society  of  Macon  county,  added  largely  to  the  beauty  and  value 
of  the  display  in  this  department.  The  splendid  tea-set  presented  by  Mrs. 
William  H.  Ennis,  the  feather  bed  presented  by  Mrs.  Prather,  the  fine 
display  of  green  house  plants  by  Mr.  Wessels,  with  many  other  beautiful 
things  of  less  note,  proved  that  the  citizens  of  Decatur  would  not  be  out- 
done by  those  of  any  other  city  in  the  state. 

One-half  of  this  wing  of  the  building  was  occupied  by  a  portion  of 
the  machinery  donated  to  the  fair.  Stafford's  cultivator  presented  by 
Messrs.  Barber  &  Hawley,  occupied  a  prominent  place.  Near  it  were  two 
Brown's  corn  planters,  one  presented  by  the  manufacturer  and  patentee, 
Mr.  George  W.  Brown,  the  other  by  the  employes  in  Mr.  Brown's  shop. 
A  number  of  plows,  pumps,  and  bee  hives  took  up  the  remaining  room 
upon  this  table,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  one  of  Messrs,  Fairbanks  & 
Greenleaf's  finest  scales,  which  was  donated  to  the  fair. 

Messrs.  Wheeler  &  Wilson,  Messrs.  Grover  &  Baker,  Messrs.  Wilcox 
&  Gibbs  and  Mr.  Singer  each  had  on  exhibition  a  sewing  machine  which 
was  donated  to  the  fair.  They  also  gave  part  proceeds  of  other  machines 
sold  at  the  hall. 

The  west  wing  was  occupied  by  the  "Peoria  Ladies'  Loyal  League", 
the  "Egyptian  Booth"  and  a  soda  fountain,  which  was  placed  in  the  hall 
by  D.  B.  Brown  of  Decatur,  and  which  produced  $60,  net  profit,  to  the  fair. 

The  Peoria  booth  did  honor  to  the  ladies  in  charge,  in  its  fine  display 
of  fancy  articles.  No  full  report  has  been  received  from  Peoria  county 
by  the  secretary  of  the  fair,  but  the  receipts  as  credited  to  that  county, 
amount  to  $430.  An  interesting  report  from  Peoria  will  be  given  later. 

At  the  "Egyptian  Booth"  the  display  of  fancy  articles,  fine  articles, 
fine  fruits,  etc.,  proved  to  all  that  Egypt  is  behind  no  other  portion  of  the 
state,  either  in  good  taste,  liberality  or  patriotism.  This  fancy  booth 
was  a  branch  of  the  Egyptian  refreshment  booth,  which  occupied  a  por- 
tion of  the  south  wing  of  the  hall.  Here  the  ladies  of  Southern  Illinois 
furnished  "meals  at  all  hours".  Hot  tea  and  coffee,  hot  oysters,  and  a 
great  abundance  of  such  other  refreshments  as  could  be  sent  daily  from 
their  source  of  supply  at  home,  were  dispensed  with  liberal  hands  and 
smiling  faces.  The  difficulty  of  keeping  up  supplies  from  their  distant 


232  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

fountain  head  reduced  the  amount  of  their  profits.  Yet  the  receipts  of 
the  Egyptian  booth  did  honor  to  that  portion  of  the  state.  The  treasur- 
er's report  shows  five  hundred  dollars  to  the  credit  of  this  booth. 

Mrs.  Eliza  D.  Phillips  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  who  was  chairman 
of  the  Egyptian  booth,  kindly  sent  me  seven  of  the  letters,  I  had 
written  to  her,  in  September,  1864,  regarding  the  preparations 
for  the  fair,  and  also  a  letter  with  some  interesting  and  amusing 
incidents  of  the  week  of  the  fair  which  you  will  find  in  the  sup- 
plement. 

Vermillion  County  occupied  one  refreshment  stall  in  this  wing 
of  the  hall.  The  ladies  in  charge  of  this  booth  had  made  arrange- 
ments to  make  large  quantities  of  ice  cream,  and  came  provided 
with  an  abundance  of  cake  and  other  accompaniments  of  an  ice 
cream  stand,  but  the  unfortunate  difficulty  of  procuring  a  supply 
of  milk  deranged  their  entire  plan  of  operations,  thus  lessening  the 
amount  of  their  receipts.  This  county,  however,  rendered  a  noble 
account  of  herself.  The  treasurer's  account  shows  fifteen  hun- 
dred and  four  dollars  and  fifty  cents  from  that  source. 

One-half  of  the  south  wing  of  the  hall  was  occupied  by  the 
"Champaign  County  Restaurant."  Here  nearly  half  as  many  per- 
sons were  furnished  with  meals  as  at  the  large  dining  hall.  The 
admirable  system  by  which  so  great  an  amount  of  labor  was  per- 
formed at  so  little  expense,  does  great  credit  to  those  in  charge. 
The  lady  managers  gave  all  soldiers  who  called  on  them  their 
meals  free  of  charge,  and  placed  the  ladies  who  were  at  work  in 
other  portions  of  the  hall  under  obligations  for  hot  coffee  and 
other  refreshments  "without  money  and  without  price."  Mrs 
Scroggs,  their  efficient  secretary,  reports  the  total  receipts  at 
$2,349.35  and  $257.43  as  their  expenditures. 

Near  the  entrance  of  the  Champaign  booth  Messrs.  Clark  and 
Utter  of  Rockford  had  placed  one  of  their  cider  mills,  which  they 
kept  in  constant  operation.  They  purchased  apples  and  made 
cider,  which  they  sold,  giving  the  net  proceeds,  amounting  to 
eighty-nine  dollars  and  twenty  cents,  to  the  fair. 

McLean  county  occupied  a  booth  on  the  west  side  of  the  fair 
grounds,  near  Art  Hall,  as  their  especial  field  of  labor,  which  they 
made  very  attractive  by  shady  bowers  and  seats,  thus  inviting  the 


THE  STATE  SANITARY  FAIR  233 

hungry  and  weary  to  rest  and  refreshment.  Their  management 
was  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  the  result  satisfactory  to  them- 
selves and  the  executive  committee  of  the  fair.  McLean  county 
booth  was  the  favorite  resort  of  the  great  crowd  in  attendance, 
and  their  report  shows  an  aggregate  of  four  thousand  six  hundred 
and  one  dollars  and  eighty-six  cents. 

The  only  remaining  refreshment  booth  under  the  control  of 
the  sanitary  fair  was  one  near  the  business  office,  in  a  beautiful 
grove,  which  was  occupied  by  the  ladies  of  Long  Creek  Aid 
society  of  Macon  County.  While  other  refreshment  booths  had 
whole  counties  to  call  upon  for  provisions  and  aid,  this  booth 
was  supplied  entirely  by  the  Aid  society  of  one  township.  The 
amount  of  the  receipts  and  the  popularity  of  the  booth,  fully  attest 
the  ability  and  liberality  with  which  it  was  conducted.  Mrs.  M.  I. 
Davis,  the  secretary  of  the  society,  reports  receipts  at  booth, 
$787 ;  expenses,  $265 ;  donations  to  dining  hall,  provisions,  $40 ; 
articles  to  the  bazaar,  $35 ;  goods  on  hand,  $19 ;  total  benefits  to 
the  sanitary  fair,  $613.  The  ladies  of  this  society  requested  to 
retain  this  amount  in  their  own  possession  to  purchase  material 
for  hospital  stores.  They  hoped  thus  to  greatly  increase  the  value 
of  their  donations  during  the  winter. 

A  short  letter  from  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Stickel,  who  was  President 
of  the  Long  Creek  Aid  Society,  will  also  appear  in  the  supplement. 

In  order  to  make  the  evening  amusements  of  the  people  vis- 
iting the  state  fair  tributary  to  the  funds  of  the  sanitary  fair, 
Powers'  hall,  the  only  one  capable  of  being  used  for  the  purpose, 
was  engaged  for  the  week.  On  Monday  evening  a  juvenile  con- 
cert was  given,  conducted  by  Prof.  Murphy  of  Decatur.  This 
gentleman,  who  was  blind,  generously  gave  three  afternoons  each 
week  for  three  weeks  preparing  a  class  of  little  girls  for  this  con- 
cert, and  full  credit  did  the  little  fairies  do  his  training.  They 
sang  many  patriotic  songs,  in  excellent  style,  drawing  forth  the 
unbounded  applause  of  the  audience.  The  receipts  of  this  con- 
cert were  fifty-one  dollars  and  fifty  cents. 

On  Tuesday  evening  the  Decatur  Musical  Union  gave  one  of 
their  recherche  and  delightful  concerts,  to  a  highly  appreciative 
audience.  The  receipts  were  $89.90. 


234  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

On  Wednesday  and  Thursday  evenings  the  hall  was  occupied 
by  the  Quincy  Needle  Pickets,  in  a  mixed  entertainment  of  tab- 
leaux and  music.  The  hall  was  filled  to  overflowing  both  nights, 
and  the  most  enthusiastic  admiration  of  the  entire  erformance 
was  expressed  by  those  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  gain  admit- 
tance. These  two  entertainments  netted  $364.40  to  the  treasury 
of  the  fair. 

The  agricultural  ball  on  Friday  evening  was  an  elegant  affair. 
The  receipts  were  $206.25. 

Early  in  the  summer  the  dining  hall  upon  the  fair  grounds 
had  been  rented  by  the  State  Agricultural  Society,  to  Mr.  H. 
Goodman  of  Decatur  for  $1,050.  A  committee  was  appointed  to 
negotiate  for  the  rent  of  this  hall,  who  reported  that  it  could  only 
be  had  by  paying  a  premium  of  $300  for  the  contract.  The 
amount  seemed  large  for  the  use  of  the  tenement  for  one  week, 
but  the  proposition  was  accepted,  and  the  place  secured,  at  the 
rent  of  $1,350.  In  addition  to  this  rent,  the  committee  were  com- 
pelled, by  the  contract,  to  furnish  all  the  officers,  committees  and 
laborers  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society  with  meal  tickets,  at 
the  rate  of  33  1/3  cents  each. 

The  ladies  of  Sangamon  County  generously  undertook  the 
management  of  this  department.  Mrs.  E.  J.  Evans,  Mr.  S.  F. 
Greer  and  Mrs.  Henry  Prather  of  Decatur  were  added  to  this 
committee,  and  labored  faithfully  during  the  two  weeks  to  assist 
the  ladies  of  Sangamon  with  their  laborious  and  responsible  task. 

The  dining  hall  was  two  stories  high,  the  upper  story  had  been 
occupied  at  former  fairs  as  a  lodging  room  for  employes  and  the 
ladies  from  Sangamon  County  decided  that  they  would  camp  for 
fair  week,  in  that  room.  It  would  be  necessary  that  they  be  upon 
the  ground  early  and  late,  so  they  declined  the  hospitality  of  the 
ladies  of  Decatur  and  furnishing  their  own  bed  clothes,  made 
their  beds  from  a  thick  layer  of  straw  placed  on  the  floor.  Two 
corners  were  curtained  off  for  toilet  rooms  and  they  offered  to 
share  their  "political  quarters"  with  Egypt  and  McLean  County. 

This  arrangement  left  open  for  hospitable  purposes,  many  of 
the  Decatur  homes  where  permanent  guests  had  been  expected. 

Fresh  relays  of  young  ladies  from  Springfield  came  up  every 


THE  STATE  SANITARY  FAIR  235 

day  to  "wait  tables."  They  were  dressed  in  white  with  red  sashes 
and  blue  caps. 

There  was  not  an  evening  during  the  week  when  some  of  the 
tired  out  workers  did  not  welcome  an  invitation  from  Decatur 
ladies  to  accept  a  comfortable  bed  in  exchange  for  their  couch 
of  straw.  Very  soon  the  necessity  of  adding  at  least  one  Decatur 
woman  to  the  committee  at  every  booth  where  refreshments  were 
served  became  evident.  There  was  something  lacking  every  day 
and  only  home  talent  could  supply  the  required  information  re- 
garding sources  of  supply. 

There  were  many  trying  but  amusing  episodes  connected  with 
this  undertaking.  The  milk  problem  was  a  serious  one.  Mr. 
James  N.  Brown  of  Berlin,  Sangamon  county,  offered  to  solve 
the  problem  for  the  dining  hall,  by  driving  into  a  pasture  adjoin- 
ing the  fair  grounds  a  herd  of  twelve  milk  cows  and  furnishing 
a  man  to  milk  them.  Then  all  the  milk  that  could  be  supplied  by 
the  cows  on  exhibition  at  the  Agricultural  Fair  was  pledged  to 
the  McLean  and  Egyptian  booths.  Mr.  Brown's  cows  arrived 
on  Sunday  and  furnished  an  abundant  supply  of  milk  for  Monday 
and  Tuesday,  but  on  Wednesday  morning  it  was  found  that  "some 
one  had  left  the  gate  open"  and  the  cows  were  enroute  to  Spring- 
field. Men  on  horseback  were  sent  in  pursuit,  and  found  the 
entire  herd  corralled  in  a  barn  yard  near  Illiopolis.  It  was  ex- 
pected Wednesday  would  be  the  big  day  of  the  fair,  and  no  milk. 
Black  despair  filled  the  hearts  of  the  dining  room  committee. 
Before  eight  o'clock,  Mrs.  Greer  arrived  upon  the  scene  and  was 
importuned  for  relief.  She  put  a  boy  on  horseback  with  a  note 
to  me  which  read : 

"Not  a  drop  of  milk  for  the  dining  hall.  Leave  everything  else 
and  start  out  to  beg,  buy  or  borrow  every  pint  of  milk  in  Decatur." 

I  was  just  dressing  my  two  little  girls  for  a  day  at  the  fair 
and  had  no  available  messenger.  I  had  no  milk  cans,  but  "Old 
Billy  and  the  buggy"  were  ready,  so  I  put  a  wash  boiler  into  the 
front  of  the  buggy,  covered  it  with  a  long  roller  towel,  clamped 
the  lid  down  and  sat  one  little  girl  on  each  end  of  it  and  started 
in  pursuit  of  milk.  At  the  only  house  between  me  and  the  railroad 
I  found  a  good  hearted  Irish  woman,  who  said,  "sure,  ye  can 


236  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

have  every  piggin  my  cow  gave  this  morning,  the  childer  can  eat 
their  bread  dry  today,"  and  she  brought  out  two  big  crocks  of 
milk  and  poured  it  into  the  wash  boiler.  We  readjusted  the  towel 
and  the  lid,  and  started  over  the  rough  roads  for  the  next  possible 
house  with  a  cow.  Here  we  met  with  the  same  cordial  reception, 
but  found  that  the  towel  had  absorbed  about  half  of  the  first  dona- 
tion, so  we  took  the  towel  off,  and  the  good  woman  furnished  us 
with  strips  of  rags  to  "stop  the  leaks."  When  we  stopped  again 
there  were  little  puddles  on  the  floor,  and  the  children's  shoes 
were  about  half  full  of  milk.  But  we  persevered  and  arrived  at 
the  dining  hall  with  about  eight  gallons  of  milk,  and  two  saturated 
little  girls,  who  had  to  be  sent  home  for  dry  clothes. 

In  Mr.  Burgess'  report  to  the  State  Sanitary  Board  he  says: 

The  dining  hall  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  and  indis- 
pensable of  the  preparations.  No  other  was  more  constantly  or  more 
liberally  patronized.  Too  much  praise  cannot  be  awarded  to  the  ladies 
who  assumed  the  control  and  so  successfully  directed  this  great  feature 
of  the  fair.  Its  attractions  and  its  success  were  entirely  owing  to  their 
intelligent  and  indefatigable  exertions. 

While  all  who  aided  in  conducting  it  are  entitled  to,  and  do  receive 
the  thanks  of  the  soldiers  and  the  sanitary  commission,  it  is  due  to  the 
following  ladies  that  special  mention  should  also  be  made  of  their  names, 
to-wit :  Mrs.  Salter,  Mrs.  Tilton,  Mrs.  Zimmerman,  Mrs.  Stoneberger, 
Mrs.  Arnold,  Mrs.  Nutt,  Mrs.  Gregg,  Mrs.  Schaum,  Mrs.  Ives,  Mrs.  Little, 
Mrs.  Halbert,  Mrs.  Selby,  Mrs.  Curtis,  Miss  Tilton  and  Miss  Cheney  of 
Springfield ;  and  Misses  Pickerel  of  Mechanicsburg ;  Mrs.  Edwards  of 
Watson  and  Miss  Murtfeldt  of  Rockford. 

The  great  experience  of  Mr.  B.  A.  Watson  of  Springfield  as  a  caterer 
at  state  fairs,  was  invaluable  to  the  committee,  and  to  him  their  thanks 
are  gratefully  tendered  for  the  generous  and  cheerful  manner  in  which 
he  devoted  his  time  and  labor  to  the  work  of  the  dining  hall  during  the 
entire  week.  To  Messrs.  Bowen  Brothers  of  Chicago,  who  furnished 
crockery  free  of  charge ;  to  Misses  Elmwood,  Olney  and  others,  of  De- 
catur;  to  Captain  Walker,  Mr.  Nutt  and  Mr.  Salter  of  Springfield;  to  the 
soldiers  from  the  General  Hospital,  Camp  Butler,  and  to  all  who  rendered 
efficient  aid  to  carry  through  the  enterprise  successfully,  the  committee 
are  under  great  obligations. 

The  ladies  in  charge,  concluding  that  the  meals  should  be  furnished 
at  the  cheapest  possible  rates,  seventy-five  cents  was  fixed  on  as  the  price 
for  dinner,  and  fifty  cents  each  for  supper  and  breakfast  tickets.  Six 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-seven  meal  tickets  were  sold  during 
the  week,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-nine  Agricultural  society 
tickets  received,  besides  the  meals  furnished  to  laborers,  waiters  and  carv- 
ers, which  averaged  two  hundred  and  seventy  per  day,  making  10,526 
meals  supplied  during  the  fair. 

Although  provisions  of  all  kinds  from  various  parts  of  the  state  were 
profusely  donated,  yet  it  was  found  necessary  to  purchase  large  quanti- 
ties of  groceries 


THE  STATE  SANITARY  FAIR 


237 


Desirable  as  it  would  have  been  to  have  kept  an  exact  record  of  all 
donations  to  this  department,  it  was  found  impracticable  to  do  so,  and 
to  avoid  all  danger  of  making  invidious  distinctions,  it  was  decided  that 
no  lists  of  donors'  names  should  be  published. 

A  number  of  beeves,  donated  to  the  dining  hall,  were  not  received  in 
time  to  have  them  butchered.  They  are  credited  in  the  report  of  receipts. 

Articles  sold  at  auction,  which  were  purchased  for  use  in  the  hall, 
are  also  credited  in  the  same  statement. 

Large  quantities  of  provisions,  which  it  is  impossible  to  report  in 
detail,  were  received  from  Macon,  Sangamon.  DeWitt,  Piatt,  Menard, 
Peoria,  Adams,  Knox,  LaSalle,  Vermilion,  Champaign,  Moultrie,  Marion 
and  McLean  counties. 

The  following  statement  of  the  operations  and  general  management 
of  the  dining  hall,  is  made  up  from  copious  notes  furnished  the  secretary 
of  the  commission  by  Miss  Kate  Tilton  of  Springfield,  whose  benevolent 
activity  and  intelligent  superintendence  of  this  most  essential  feature  of 
the  fair,  were  known  to  have  given  to  the.  dining  hall  its  acknowledged 
popularity,  and  secured  for  it  the  immense  patronage  it  enjoyed. 

The  dining  hall  account  follows : 

RECEIPTS. 

For  meals  and  sundries,  paid  Treasurer  Burrows $5,038.45 

For  beeves   donated  and   sold $102.25 

For  kitchen  furniture  donated  and  sold 42.00 

For  flour  donated  and  sold 32.00 

For  groceries  donated  and  sold 147.89 

For  fancy  articles — Young  Ladies'    Booth 18.00 

For  cash   of   Dr.    Sherman 12.00         354-14 

Total    $5,392-59 

EXPENSES. 

Paid  rent  of  dining  hall $1,350.00 

Hardware  56.75 

Laborers,  washing,  hauling,  etc 599-25 

Groceries,  ice,  butter,  bread,  meat,  oysters 1, 535-70 

Incidentals    : 78.75    $3,620.45 

Deducting  the  amount  received  Young  Ladies'  booth...          3.00       1,772.14 
Proceeds  of  donation  by  Mr.  Leclare 18.00          21.00 

Shows  the  net  proceeds  of  the  dining  hall $1,751.14 

Add  estimated  value  of  vegetables,  etc.,  unsold  and  sent 
to  Camps  Yates,  Butler  and  the  Soldiers'  Home 201.00 

Total    $1,952.14 

Total  value  of  Contributions  from  Different  Counties  Reported, 
without  estimating  the  value  of  donations  to  Dining  Hall : 

Knox  County $  5,606.93 

McLean    4,601.86 

Macon    3,995.oo 

Champaign   2,091.92 

Vermilion    1,820.00 

Sangamon 1,775-25 

LaSalle    1,429.50 

Menard    i,  160.00 


238  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

Adams  686.00 

Clark    .' 604.00 

Marion    500.00 

Peoria    430.00 

Piatt 359-00 

Christian  252.00 

Woodford    259.00 

Bond    382.00 

Moultrie    225.00 

Brown    205.00 

Morgan 1 17.00 


Total    $26,409.46 

Aggregate  Statement  of  Receipts  and  expenditures : 

Total  receipts,  as  per  treasurer's  report $26,499.46 

Total  expenditures  as  per  treasurer's  report 7,817.54 

Net   , $18,681.92 

Value  of  sanitary  stores  forwarded 7,879.00 

Goods  sent  to  Quincy  fair 542.00 

Cash  in  hands  of  Long  Creek  Association 541.00 

Total    $27,643.92 

Articles  on  hand  and  their  estimated  value : 
Land,  merchandise,  unpaid  subscriptions,  from  citizens  of  McLean 

County '. $  1,641.00 

Muslin  in  charge  of  Decatur  Aid  society 112.00 

City  lot  in  Decatur,  not  sold 100.00 

Durham  bull  and  one  beef,  unsold 120.00 

Fancy  goods,  pictures,  etc 80.00 

Order  for  grape  vines,  unsold 40.00 


Total .$29,736.92 

On  hand,  not  estimated — Sanitary  Building. 

Alonzo  Burgess,  Secretary. 

All  of  the  above  articles  were  afterwards  sold  by  Mr.  Lowber 
Burrows,  treasurer  of  the  committee,  at  their  full  estimated  value. 
The  lumber  in  the  sanitary  building  as  reported  by  the  treasurer 
to  have  cost  $1,316.06,  was  sold,  as  I  remember  it,  for  $1,000, 
which  would  make  the  receipts  from  the  fair  $30,736.92. 

The  treasurer's  report  is  very  long  and  tedious  and  I  think  it 
not  worth  while  to  recapitulate  the  items  as  everything  was  in- 
cluded in  the  Report  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

I  will  make  a  few  extracts  from  this  itemized  report  which  I 
think  either  important  or  curious. 

There  were  cash  donations  from  the  Macon  County  Agricul- 
tural Society  $150.00,  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  Decatur,  $52.75, 


THE  STATE  SANITARY  FAIR  239 

including  a  concert  given  by  the  children  under  the  training  of 
Prof.  Murphy,  (the  blind  music  teacher)  and  directed  by  Miss 
Ada  Powers.  Sales  of  the  Decatur  Aid  Society  Booth  $366.70. 
Proceeds  of  the  "Sanitary  Ball"  $206.35.  Cash  donations  of 
citizens  of  Decatnr  $1,675.70.  Employes  the  fifth  division  I.  C. 
R.  R.  by  D.  H.  Elwood,  Decatur,  $104.00.  Cash  donations  from 
Hickory,  Wheatland,  Macon,  Blue  Mound,  Mt.  Zion,  Illini,  Har- 
ristown  townships  aggregatin  $236.75.  All  these  townships  had 
made  liberal  contributions,  beeves,  chickens,  butter,  eggs,  milk 
and  vegetables  to  the  dining  hall  for  which  they  received  no 
cash  credit. 

I  find  upon  a  careful  review  of  Treasurer  Burrows'  report 
that  the  $613  received  from  the  Long  Creek  booth  and  which  they 
were  allowed  to  retain  to  use  for  the  purchase  of  material  to  be 
worked  into  sanitary  stores  by  the  Long  Creek  Aid  Society  are 
not  credited  in  the  report  of  the  treasurer  of  the  Fair.  This  sum 
was*  probably  more  than  doubled  in  value  by  its  careful  expend- 
iture, for  hospital  stores.  When  the  receipts  from  the  Long  Creek 
booth  are  added  to  the  gross  receipts  from  the  Fair  it  increases 
the  amount  to  $31,349.92. 

The  feather  bed  donated  by  Mrs.  Henry  Prather  was  made 
into  pillows  and  sent  to  the  Hospital  at  Camp  Butler. 

The  lot  donated  by  Wait  and  Oglesby  was  sold  later  for  more 
than  $100. 

It  took  a  month  after  the  close  of  the  fair  to  clear  away  the 
debris  of  materials,  finances  and  correspondence,  and  when  on 
October  21,  the  new  officers  of  the  Aid  Society  were  elected  and 
so  many  new  members  taken  in,  the  "old  guard"  welcomed  an 
opportunity  to  rest.  The  last  semi-annual  report  of  the  society 
shows  that  the  spirits  of  the  workers  had  not  flagged  nor  their 
work  ceased  until  peace  spread  her  wings  over  the  land.  On  May 
19,  the  Decatur  Hospital  Aid  Society  adjourned,  sine  die.  , 

Thus  ended  four  years  of  the  most  eventful,  exciting  and 
result ful  period  in  history.  The  United  States  had  established 
her  right  to  be  called  a  Nation.  Slavery  was  no  longer  a  blot  on 
the  escutcheon  of  the  land  of  the  free.  Woman  had  discovered 
herself  as  an  important  factor  in  the  body  politic  and  had  vindi- 


240  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

cated  her  right  to  own  herself  and  the  product  of  her  labor.  The 
church  was  more  Christian  and  less  sectarian,  society  was  more 
democratic,  the  arts  of  peace  had  been  stimulated  by  the  neces- 
sities of  war,  while  war  itself  had  been  made  too  dangerous  to  be 
entered  into  on  slight  pretext  by  the  inventive  genius  of  American 
artisans.  The  world  was  made  better  and  wiser  by  the  bitter 
struggle. 

I  am  glad  to  have  lived  through  this  history  making  epoch 
and  to  have  felt  the  heart  throb  of  its  intense  patriotism. 

"Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  glory  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord : 
He  is  trampling  out  the  vintage  where  the  grapes  of  wrath  are  stored ; 
He  hath  loosed  the  fateful  lightning  of  his  terrible  swift  sword : 
His  truth  is  marching  on." 


SUPPLEMENT 


Hoping  to  make  this  book  a  comprehensive  history  of  the 
sanitary  work  of  the  women  of  Illinois,  the  Decatur  Daughters 
of  the  American  Revolution  sent  a  circular  letter  to  a  number  of 
chapters  in  the  state  asking  for  reports  from  their  soldiers  aid 
societies,  Galesburg,  Peoria,  and  Centralia  are  the  only  cities 
that  responded  to  the  invitation.  Mrs.  Eliza  D.  Phillips,  then  of 
Centralia,  who  was  the  chairman  of  the  Egyptian  delegation  to 
the  Sanitary  Fair,  sent  to  me  seven  letters  that  she  had  received 
from  me  and  one  from  Mrs.  Millikin,  during  the  preliminary 
preparations  for  the  fair.  These  letters  gave  descriptions  of  the 
sanitary  building,  the  dining  hall  and  instructions  for  shipping 
goods,  etc.,  and  have  been  a  great  help  to  me  in  making  my  report 
of  that  fair. 

Mrs.  Phillips'  very  interesting  letter  might  serve  as  a  history 
of  the  work  of  women  in  almost  any  town  on  the  State  of  Illinois. 
Mrs.  Phillips'  letter  follows: 

WORK   OF   THE   "EGYPTIAN"   LADIES. 

My  daughter,  Mrs.  Shauck,  tells  me  that  you  would  like  to 
have  everything  in  my  possession  relating  to  the  "Sanitary  Fair" 
at  Decatur  in  1864. 

Well  it  is  a  "far  cry"  from  1864  to  1912,  and  in  that  time 
much  that  I  had  has  been  destroyed  and  I  have  little  to  send  that 
will  be  available  for  your  paper. 

Letters  from  you  and  other  Decatur  people  will  indicate  what 
was  hoped  for,  and  expected  from  the  Centralia  Soldiers  Aid 
Society.  Well  we  worked !  You  know  how  the  women  all  over 
the  country  worked,  how  we  canned  and  dried  fruit,  made  jelly 
and  preserves,  how  we  sewed  at  sheets  and  pillow  cases,  shirts 

241 


242  SUPPLEMENT 

and  drawers,  knit  socks,  saved  rags  and  picked  lint.  How  we  had 
bazaars  and  suppers  and  dinners  and  concerts,  how  we  sacrificed 
many  (as  we  felt)  an  imperative  need  so  that  more  could  go  to 
the  front  to  satisfy  the  more  imperative  need  of  the  brave  boys 
on  the  firing  line. 

Of  course,  much  of  the  tragic  and  comic  that  must  have  come 
to  your  notice  during  the  fair  would  make  interesting  reading.  I 
remember  in  the  Egyptian  booth  the  treasurer  and  the  caterer  for 
that  booth  got  into  a  squabble  over  the  amount  of  money  required 
for  the  day's  supplies.  The  booth  was  well  patronized  and  even 
with  daily  remittances  from  Centralia  it  was  hard  to  meet  the 
demands  for  the  day.  The  treasurer  thought  she  had  given  out 
enough  money,  the  caterer  insisting  there  was  not  nearly  enough 
while  the  men  stood  around  saying,  "I'll  bet  on  the  red  haired 
woman."  It  was  rather  embarrassing  to  the  rest  of  us.  The 
caterer,  who  was  the  red-haired  woman,  won  her  case,  as  it  was 
right  she  should,  and  proceeded  triumphantly  to  town  for  her 
supplies. 

I  think  there  was  much  curiosity  as  to  what  the  Egyptian 
women  looked  like.  One  day  a  dapper,  supercilious  looking  Bos- 
ton newspaper  man  come  to  the  booth  and  said,  "I  would  like  to 
see  some  of  the  Egyptian  Ladies."  I  said,  "Well  sir,  here  we  are, 
just  look  at  us."  He  was  somewhat  crestfallen  and  with  height- 
ened color  made  a  most  profound  bow  and  left. 

We  were  most  comfortable  during  our  stay  in  Decatur.  There 
had  been  straw  spread  over  a  platform  and  we  had  taken  bed 
clothes  and  though  they  were  not  "flowery  beds  of  ease,"  yet 
after  the  strenuous  work  of  the  day,  the  resting  place  and  time 
were  very  grateful. 

The  Soldiers  Home  was  established  in  Centralia  August  14, 
1863.  Though  the  majority  of  the  people  in  Egypt  were  loyal, 
there  were  many  rebels,  copperheads  and  Knights  of  the  Golden 
Circle,  which  only  fear  kept  in  check.  They  burned  bridges  and 
tried  to  burn  the  roundhouse  in  Centralia.  The  engines  were 
rolled  out  on  the  railroad  tracks  and  day  and  night  watches 
guarded  them. 


WORK  OF  THE  "EGYPTIAN"  LADIES  243 

The  things  that  happened  in  our  little  society  seem  trivial  now, 
but  to  us  were  important  then. 

We  did  not  always  harmonize  in  our  views  of  things,  especially 
when  an  election  of  officers  was  impending.  A  president  wished 
to  resign,  the  society  was  not  willing  she  should,  so  they  quar- 
reled and  seemed  to  enjoy  it,  a  new  president  was  nominated, 
and  then  they  quarrelled  some  more.  Finally  the  obstreperous 
gave  in  and  peace  reigned. 

We  laugh  now  at  the  objections  urged  to  some  of  our  plans. 
We  appointed  a  meeting  a  certain  night  to  arrange  for  a  Fair, 
when  one  good  sister  said,  "we  cannot  meet  then,  it  will  be  in  the 
dark  of  the  moon,  we  had  better  wait  until  it  is  moonlight."  Don't 
that  sound  funny  in  the  light  of  today? 

Well  we  had  the  Fair,  and  after  all  expenses  were  paid  we 
had  left  in  the  treasury  $184.25.  At  our  sewing  society  we  worked 
diligently  and  talked  as  little  as  might  be  expected.  In  addition 
to  what  we  did  for  the  soldiers  we  helped  many  refugees  from 
the  South  whose  fathers  and  brothers  were  in  the  army.  We 
bought  material,  made  clothing  for  them,  supplied  food.  In  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Chase  who  was  general  agent  at  Cairo  for  the 
Illinois  Sanitary  Commission,  he  asks,  "what  are  you  doing  for 
the  many  refugees  passing  through  here  bound  for  Centralia?" 

Well  we  worked !  Some  were  perhaps  unworthy,  but  we  did 
the  best  we  could. 

A  doctor  of  Centralia  gave  his  services  without  money  and 
without  price  to  the  sick  soldiers  in  the  home.  A  number  of 
soldiers  died  in  the  home.  I  send  you  a  sample  of  the  undertak- 
ers bill,  and  in  no  case  did  his  bill  exceed  $12.  The  grave-diggers' 
bill  was  always  $2.50.  They  certainly  did  not  make  expenses. 
Everybody  seemed  to  esteem  it  a  great  privilege  to  help  as  they 
could.  We  had  speeches,  lectures  by  prominent  men  and  debates, 
"shall  women  have  the  right  of  suffrage." 

One  man  said  "Of  course  give  them  the  right  of  suffrage,  let 
them  suffer  if  they  want  to,  we  have  to." 

Another  burning  question  was  "Is  it  not  wrong  for  this  society 
composed  as  it  is  of  Christian  women  to  have  an  entertainment 
of  tableaux,  as  they  are  nothing  but  theatricals?" 


244  SUPPLEMENT 

One  of  the  tableaux,  I  remember  was  a  scene  in  Scotland. 
One  of  the  ministers  of  our  town  would  make  a  typical  Scottish 
chieftan.  Some  one  asked  him  to  take  that  part.  He  said  he 
"would  gladly  do  so,  if  he  could  find  enough  Scotch  plaid  in  the 
town  to  make  him  a  kilt."  You  may  imagine  the  protest.  "If  he 
does  a  thing  like  that,  I  will  never  enter  the  church  again.  It  is 
undignified,  unbecoming  and  unchristian." 

He  came  to  us  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eyes  and  said,  "You  see 
how  it  is,  I  must  not  disrupt  the  church  and  imperil  the  immortal 
souls  of  my  people,  so  must  decline." 

In  arranging  for  our  festivals  we  had  books  and  many  things 
the  stores  allowed  us  to  sell  on  commission. 

Surely  we  did  not  despise  the  day  of  small  things. 

You  ask,  were  other  towns  in  Egypt  interested?  They  were 
certainly  busy  helpers.  There  was  not  a  town  in  Southern  Illinois 
but  had  its  Aid  Society.  Here  is  a  partial  list  of  those  that  con- 
tributed to  the  support  of  the  home  in  Centralia. 

The  Martha  Washington  League  at  Bethel. 

Soldier's  Aid  Society  of  East  Grand  Cote,  Prairie,  111. 

The  Women's  Royal  League  of  Richview. 

The  Ladies  Loyal  League  of  Nashville,  111. 

Many  valuable  things  from  Tennessee  Prairie,  111. 

Check  for  $50  from  Springfield,  111. 

Ladies  Loyal  League  of  Colma,  111. 

The  Ladies  League  of  Farmington,  111. 

From  a  Sunday  congregation  at  Elk  Horn  Prairie,  $26  for 
the  sick  and  wounded  at  the  home. 

Ladies  League  of  Pleasant  Ridge. 

Fosters,  111.,  sent  money  and  produce. 

From  Mt.  Vernon,  a  box  of  articles  valued  at  $75. 

From  Chester,  money  and  many  comforts  for  the  home. 

From  Ham's  Grove,  many  much  needed  things. 

From  Carlyle,  money  and  produce. 

From  Salem,  boxes  and  barrels  of  bedding  and  most  cordial 
offers  of  assistance  for  the  Sanitary  Fair  at  Decatur. 

Ashley  contributed  money  and  much  that  was  valuable. 

Coultersville,  Pricetown,  Washington. 


LONG  CREEK'S  PART  IN  THE  FAIR  245 

In  the  lapse  of  time  many  records  were  lost.  The  farmers 
brought  without  solicitation  loads  of  wood  and  coal,  also  produce 
from  the  farm. 

The  Aid  Societies  sent  dressing  gowns,  shirts,  underclothing, 
socks,  bedside-slippers,  books,  magazines,  eggs,  butter,  cheese, 
canned  and  dried  fruit,  apples,  potatoes,  onions,  sheets,  pillows 
and  cases,  towels,  and  money. 

Everything  was  grist  that  came  to  our  mill,  what  could  not  be 
used  at  the  Home,  we  sold  and  gave  the  proceeds  to  the  Sanitary 
Commission.  I  think  there  was  not  one  of  our  party  sick  at 
Decatur  and  I  really  do  not  remember  any  of  the  Decatur  people 
I  met  nor  the  amount  of  money  we  gave  the  commission. 

ELIZA  D.  PHILLIPS. 

LONG  CREEK'S  PART  IN  THE  FAIR. 

In  response  to  a  request  from  Mrs.  Pegram,  Mrs.  Stickel  of 
Long  Creek  writes : 

Dear  friend :  I  will  gladly  tell  you  what  I  can  remember. 
The  Long  Creek  Society  had  a  booth  at  the  Fair.  I  was  president 
at  the  time.  Having  a  family  of  small  children  I  could  not  be 
there  much  of  the  time.  I  secured  Mr.  George  Casner  and  Mr. 
Michael  Eichinger  to  take  charge  of  it  for  me.  I  remember  that 
Mr.  Casner  killed  a  beef  to  help  provide.  Mrs.  John  Davis  was 
a  great  worker,  her  son  Buel  T.  Davis  now  lives  in  Decatur  and 
probobly  could  give  you  some  information.  The  society  did  all 
they  could.  We  met  at  Long  Creek  Church  every  Thursday 
afternoon  to  sew  and  scrape  lint.  We  had  one  festival  at  our 
house  to  raise  money.  After  one  hundred  or  more  had  taken  sup- 
per, we  fixed  up  boxes  of  eatables  for  the  soldiers.  I  think  Mrs. 
Millikin  can  tell  you  quite  a  good  deal  about  this  matter.  She 
took  an  interest  in  our  society. 

If  this  information  is  of  any  benefit  to  you  I  am  truly  glad  to 
give  it.  As  I  am  now  in  my  8gth  year,  my  memory  is  not  so 
good  as  it  was  in  days  past. 

Your  friend, 

MARY  A.  STICKEL. 

Casner,  111. 


246  SUPPLEMENT 

WHAT  THE  WOMEN  OF  GALESBURG  DID. 

While  the  men  were  giving  their  services  and  pledging  faith- 
fulness to  the  cause  of  the  Union,  the  women  at  home  were  not 
idle  and  when  the  first  call  for  troops  was  made  a  company  of 
the  Seventeenth  Regiment  was  raised  in  Galesburg  and  the  women 
of  the  town  offered  to  make  their'  uniforms.  The  offer  was 
accepted  by  the  government.  One  Mother  (Mrs.  Ewing)  took 
the  suit  for  her  boy  home  and  every  stitch  was  sewed  by  her 
hands,  and  when  finished  a  Bible,  handkerchiefs  and  anything  that 
could  be  was  put  into  the  pockets.  There  may  have  been  other 
mothers  that  did  the  same,  but  this  one  is  all  that  I  know  of. 

The  uniforms  were  made  satisfactorily  and  the  women  worked 
on  during  the  summer  doing  the  best  they  could,  but  in  October, 
1861,  a  permanent  organization  was  formed. 

A  notice  was  put  in  the  local  paper  asking  all  women  inter- 
ested in  work  for  the  soldiers  to  meet  in  the  old  Academy  building 
on  a  certain  evening  (the  Academy  was  situated  where  the  Union 
Hotel  now  stands).  A  large  number  responded  and  Mrs.  Henry 
Hurd  (Dr.  Kurd's  wife)  was  called  upon  to  preside. 

From  that  meeting  the  Soldiers  Aid  Society  was  formed,  and 
from  that  time  until  the  close  of  the  war  women  of  Galesburg 
worked  for  the  boys  that  were  fighting  for  home  and  the  Union 
of  our  land. 

How  can  I  tell  of  all  that  they  did.  Every  town  and  village 
in  Knox  County  did  everything  that  was  generous  and  noble  to 
help,  but  Galesburg  seemed  to  take  the  lead  in  loyalty  and  devo- 
tion— no  call  for  help  was  ever  refused. 

They  had  sociables,  concerts,  excursions,  sewing  bees,  picnics, 
fairs  and  dinners.  At  one  Fair  nearly  $4,000  was  raised.  Even 
the  small  girls  were  taught  to  scrape  lint,  as  there  was  no  absorb- 
ent cotton  in  those  days,  so  they  felt  that  they  were  doing  some- 
thing for  the  cause. 

The  membership  was  2$c  annually  but  that  did  not  swell  the 
fund  very  fast,  though  many  donations  helped.  Each  time  they 
met  each  one  paid  ten  cents. 

Whenever  a  report  of  a  battle  would  come  and  the  call  for 


247 

supplies,  our  women  never  failed  to  respond  with  food  and  cloth- 
ing. The  perishable  food  could  only  be  sent  to  the  nearby  hos- 
pitals, but  canned  and  dried  fruits  and  vegetables,  blackberry 
cordial  that  helped  to  save  many  a  man's  life,  was  sent  from 
Galesburg. 

I  well  remember  how  the  ladies  would  come  to  my  mother's 
home  to  can  fruit,  make  pickles  and  blackberry  cordial.  No 
glass  bottles  with  tight-fitting  tops  were  in  use  then,  so  you  can 
imagine  the  labor  of  sealing  the  tin  cans.  There  was  no  gas 
stoves  either,  but  great  boilers  of  fruit  on  the  stoves  and  such  hot 
weather  as  it  was.  Not  only  one  summer,  but  four  that  this  was 
done  so  willingly. 

The  shirts  and  drawers  that  were  made,  so  many  of  them, 
also  coats  and  pants,  stockings  knit!  Everything  that  could  be 
made  for  the  comfort  of  the  men  was  done  by  our  loyal  women. 

Our  townswoman,  Mrs.  Bickerdyke,  went  south  to  nurse  the 
boys  and  many  a  man  living  today  can  testify  to  her  loving  care. 
She  found  her  place  when  she  went  to  Cairo  in  August,  1861,  to 
find  out  what  was  needed — then  she  came  home  to  settle  her 
family  affairs  for  a  prolonged  stay.  At  Donelson  and  Pittsburg 
Landing  she  was  untiring  in  her  efforts  to  relieve  the  suffering 
of  the  wounded.  At  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge  and  Lookout 
Mountain  she  was  in  the  field  30  days,  and  for  most  of  that  time 
the  only  woman  nurse. 

At  Vicksburg  she  undertook  to  correct  the  abuses  of  the  sani- 
tary supplies  and  was  not  at  all  times  welcome  by  the  officers  in 
charge.  One  of  the  officers  complained  and  asked  to  have  her 
removed.  When  told  her  name  the  commanding  officer  (Grant) 
said: 

"You  must  apply  to  Mr.  Lincoln  as  she  ranks  me." 

On  the  statue  to  her  memory  I  believe  that  this  remark  was 
accredited  to  Gen.  Sherman,  though  the  history  of  Knox  County 
says  that  Gen.  Grant  was  in  command. 

Another  of  Mother  Bickerdyke's  good  deeds  was  her  reor- 
ganization of  Memphis  hospital.  She  transformed  the  filthy 
Gayoso  (Hotel)  into  a  neat  and  comfortable  place.  She  found  it 
hard  to  get  butter  and  eggs  for  the  men  so  she  hurried  home, 


248  SUPPLEMENT 

knowing  that  in  Knox  County  there  were  generous  farmers  that 
would  give  and  women  to  help  her.  She  came  into  the  Soldiers 
Aid  meeting  one  dismal  day  and  took  the  secretary  (Miss  Mary 
Allen  West)  by  storm,  marched  her  out  of  the  room  saying  she 
needed  her.  Away  they  went  up  to  Ontario,  where  they  were  suc- 
cessful in  getting  200  cows  and  1000  chickens  (this  seems  to  be 
a  large  number  but  again  I  quote  from  History  of  Knox  County) 
that  she  took  back  to  Memphis.  Such  a  lowing  and  cackling 
was  never  heard  before  in  that  city. 

Some  of  the  ladies  complaining  to  the  commanding  general  of 
Mother  Bickerdyke  and  her  noisy  flocks,  Gen.  Grant  finally  as- 
signed her  to  President's  island,  Island  49,  where  her  chickens 
cackled  to  their  heart's  content  and  where  they  continued  to  lay 
eggs,  her  cows  grew  fat  and  supplied  milk  in  abundance.  Here 
they  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war,  then  were  given  to  the 
poor  contrabands  who  had  been  loyal.  This  was  one  woman  that 
made  herself,  as  well  as  her  home  town,  famous  and  her  good 
works  live  after  her. 

Of  the  many  that  stayed  at  home  and  gave  of  their  time, 
money  and  strength,  shall  I  recall  some  of  the  names?  Mrs. 
Josiah  Babcock,  Mrs.  Sherman,  Mrs.  Henry  Hurd,  Mrs.  F.  M. 
Smith  (whose  husband  was  captain  of  a  company  in  the  Seven- 
teenth Infantry,  afterwards  Colonel),  Mrs.  Olmsted,  Mrs.  Elkins, 
Mrs.  Judge  Lawrence,  Mrs.  Knowles,  Mrs.  Chappell  (Mr.  Rob- 
ert Chappell's  mother),  Mrs.  Edgar  Stone,  Mrs.  Ewing,  Mrs. 
Carpenter,  Mad.  Cook,  Mrs  Stewart  and  many  others.  Nearly 
every  woman  in  town  was  interested. 

You  notice  I  say  nearly  every  woman,  as  there  were  a  few 
that  did  not  take  much  interest.  One  woman  and  her  husband 
were  heard  to  remark  that  they  were  glad  when  they  heard  that 
President  Lincoln  was  murdered.  Her  neighbor  offered  to  give 
her  featherbed  if  some  one  would  use  it  to  tar  and  feather  the 
couple. 

We  can  hardly  realize  today  that  a  ride  on  the  steam  cars  was 
a  novelty  in  1861,  but  such  was  the  case  and  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Soldiers  Aid,  the  Burlington  gave  rates  and  the  ladies  made 
money  in  that  way. 


WHAT  THE  WOMEN  OF  GALESBURG  DID  249 

They  had  lectures.  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore  of  Chicago  San- 
itary Commission  gave  her  first  lecture  here.  She  told  my  mother 
that  when  she  was  riding  from  the  station  and  saw  her  name  in 
large  letters  that  she  was  the  speaker  of  the  evening,  she  was 
so  frightened  she  wanted  to  go  straight  back  to  Chicago. 

It  was  soon  after  the  battle  of  Vicksburg.  "She  spoke  for 
one  hour  and  a  half  and  for  thrilling  pathos  her  address  has  never 
been  equaled  here,"  so  says  the  secretary,  Miss  West,  in  her 
report  for  1864. 

Miss  West  was  a  very  remarkable  woman,  taking  the  lead  in 
all  advanced  ideas  as  well  as  in  the  work  for  Soldiers  aid.  She 
was  the  first  woman  county  superintendent  of  schools  in  Knox 
County.  In  temperance  work  she  was  one  of  the  first  to  wear  the 
white  ribbon,  was  sent  around  the  world  as  missionary  and  wher- 
ever she  went  was  given  much  prominence,  especially  in  Japan. 
There  she  was  taken  very  ill  and  died.  Her  death  was  due  to 
Brights  disease,  brought  on  by  over  work  and  travel. 

The  society  gave  out  for  soldiers  and  their  families  from 
1862  until  August,  1865,  $13,586.15,  and  I  feel  that  I  must  also 
add  that  during  the  same  time  Galsburg  sent  to  the  Christian  and 
Sanitary  Commission  in  Chicago,  $6,614.75  (our  a^  was  auxiliary 
to  Chicago  Commission),  to  the  Soldiers  and  Freedmen's  Bureau, 
$2,199.10;  in  aid  to  families,  $39,950;  making  a  total  of  $62,- 
340.16. 

When  we  consider  that  at  that  time  Galesburg  was  a  town  of 
about  six  thousand  people  it  would  seem  that  we  have  reason  to 
be  proud  of  our  small  burg. 

Circulars  were  sent  out  and  canvasses  made.  Mr.  Geo.  Davis 
(for  whom  the  new  Science  Hall  is  named)  said  that  when  my 
mother,  Mrs.  M.  J.  Chase,  went  with  him  to  ask  aid  of  the  farm- 
ers that  cows,  chickens,  and  even  horses  were  given  for  the  ask- 
ing. It  was  the  same  with  many  others,  the  principles  of  brother- 
hood were  so  grandly  shown.  That  spirit  has  survived  through 
all  these  years.  That  same  thought  brought  all  people  regardless 
of  creed  to  the  broader  and  larger  feeling  of  life. 

The  history  of  Knox  County  tells  of  two  ladies  from  Gales- 
burg  and  one  from  Knoxville  going  to  the  Sanitary  Fair  at  De- 


250  SUPPLEMENT 

catur  and  having  charge  of  the  contributions.  There  were  sev- 
eral ladies  from  Galesburg,  and  my  mother  was  one.  The  articles 
given  were  expected  to  be  fancy  things  made  up  by  women,  but 
many  substantial  articles  were  sent.  Mr.  Geo.  W.  Brown  gave 
a  corn  planter  and  one  was  given  by  his  employees.  A  sugar  mill 
was  sent  from  the  Frost  foundry.  The  ladies  had  such  success  in 
selling  these  that  Mr.  Deere  of  Moline  told  them  he  would  donate 
his  fine  plow  on  exhibition  at  the  Fair  if  they  could  sell  it.  They 
did  so  and  many  other  manufacturers  followed  his  example.  Mr. 
Geo.  W.  Brown  concluded  to  give  them  the  very  fine  corn  planter 
that  he  had  had  made  to  exhibit  at  the  Fair,  making  the  third 
planter  that  he  had  given. 

This  Fair  was  exceeded  by  the  Galesburg  Sanitary  Fair  held 
July  3,  4  and  5,  1864.  At  this  time  the  country  was  straining 
every  nerve  to  help  and  there  was  much  need  of  all  kinds  of  food 
for  the  soldiers,  potatoes  and  onions  were  so  very  expensive. 
The  usual  ways  of  making  money  was  not  sufficient  so  the  grand 
fair  was  held  in  the  old  Academy  and  $4,000  was  made. 

I  can  remember  the  day  that  the  100  day  boys  marched  away. 
It  was  at  the  old  Academy  that  we  had  our  singing  class,  Mrs. 
M.  D.  Cooke  was  our  teacher  (I  must  have  been  eight  years  old). 
Some  one  said,  "Forrest  Cooke  goes  to  the  war  today."  The  fife 
and  drums  were  playing  while  we  children  talked  it  over. 

It  was  this  year  I  believe  that  Mrs.  Cooke  gave  her  entertain- 
ment, "Flora's  Queen,"  that  added  $404  to  the  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion fund.  Prof.  Furhman  was  pianist. 

Shall  I  tell  of  the  work  that  the  girls  in  public  schools,  of 
Knox  and  Lombard  Colleges,  of  the  ladies  on  Mulberry  street 
that  sewed  every  week  besides  going  to  the  regular  Soldiers  Aid 
meetings,  of  the  dinners  served  when  some  speaker  of  note  came, 
of  the  parades  with  flags  flying  and  bands  playing,  and  always 
the  fife  and  drum  ?  The  very  sound  made  the  tears  start,  but  how 
it  aroused  the  young  men  to  loyalty  and  service.  Shall  I  speak 
of  the  Knox  and  Lombard  boys  that  enlisted,  urged  by  their  girl 
admirers,  of  the  talks  that  stirred  the  hearts  of  young  and  old, 
no  thoughts  of  the  many  loved  ones  that  would  never  return  but 
of  service  for  their  country?  Flags  were  sent  that  caused  much 


WHAT  THE  WOMEN  OF  GALESBURG  DID  251 

pleasure  to  the  men,  but  they  really  enjoyed  more  the  tobacco 
and  pipes  that  had  been  put  in  with  the  flag.  The  parade  usually 
found  its  way  to  Gale's  grove  on  Cherry  street,  where  there  would 
be  more  music,  then  dinner,  and  after  that  the  speeches  that 
thrilled  the  hearts  of  old  and  young. 

To  the  children  it  was  only  a  jolly  time,  but  to  fathers  and 
mothers  it  stirred  their  hearts  and  gave  them  courage  to  go  on 
with  their  labors  for  the  men  who  were  fighting  for  home  and 
country.  All  pastors  helped  the  aid  in  every  way  and  Beecher 
Church  (chapel)  was  the  meeting  place  during  the  hot  weather, 
Dunns  Hall  also.  Miss  Ferguson's  millinery  girls  raised  nearly 
one  hundred  dollars  in  1864. 

In  the  report  for  1864  Mrs.  Henry  Hurd  was  president  for 
six  months,  Mrs.  M.  J.  Chase  the  remaining  six  months ;  Miss 
Mary  Allen  West  was  corresponding  secretary  all  the  year,  Mrs. 
Warren  Willard,  Mrs.  Sage,  Mrs.  John  A.  Marshall,  Mrs.  Sher- 
man and  Miss  Kingsbury  holding  office  with  them. 

During  the  last  year  of  the  war  there  was  much  need  of  help 
among  the  soldier's  widows  and  orphans.  They  were  not  neg- 
lected so  the  Dorcas  society  was  formed  and  looked  after  their 
needs.  Mrs.  J.  V.  N.  Standish  was  the  first  President  of  that 
society.  Many  times  the  way  seemed  rough  but  the  brave  women 
kept  on,  helping  in  every  way  possible  until  peace  was  declared. 

ELLA  CHASE  KNOWLES, 
For  the  D.  A.  R.  of  Rebecca  Park  Chapter, 

Galesburg,  III. 

THE  WOMAN'S  NATIONAL  LEAGUE  OF  PEORIA. 

On  June  3,  1863,  in  Rouse's  Hall,  at  a  meeting  presided  over 
by  the  Hon.  H.  H.  Leavitt  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio  and  a 
delegate  to  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  in  session  in  that 
city,  the  women  of  Peoria  organized  themselves  into  a  society 
bearing  the  name  of  the  Woman's  National  League  and  pledged 
themselves  to  encourage  and  sustain  the  brave  soldiers  by  deeds 
of  kindness  and  words  of  cheer,  to  honor  those  who  were  fighting 


252  SUPPLEMENT 

in  defense  of  the  "dear  old  flag"  until  the  day  of  its  sure  and  cer- 
tain triumph. 

Mrs.  A.  G.  Curtenius  was  elected  president,  Mrs.  P.  R.  K. 
Brotherson  and  Mrs.  Isaac  Underhill  vice  presidents,  Mrs.  L.  R. 
Webb  secretary,  and  Mrs.  W.  A.  Herron  treasurer.  Mrs.  Cur- 
tenius was  president  as  long  as  the  League  existed,  Mrs.  William 
Weis  was  vice  president,  Mrs.  L.  R.  Webb  and  Mrs.  Julia  P. 
Bourland  secretary,  and  Miss  Lizzie  Calligan  treasurer,  after  the 
first  year.  Mrs.  Lucie  B.  Tyng  succeeded  Mrs.  Bourland  in 
1865. 

The  labors  of  this  Society  in  behalf  of  our  soldiers  were 
manifold  and  different  organizations  attended  to  specific  interests 
under  the  one  general  head.  The  "Soldiers'  Aid  Society"  con- 
fined its  operations  chiefly  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field;  the  "Sol- 
diers' Relief  Society"  attended  mainly  to  the  relief  of  suffering 
in  the  families  of  those  who  had  gone  to  risk  life  in  defense  of 
their  common  country;  while  a  "Soldiers'  Rest"  was  established 
and  maintained  by  the  League  where  soldiers  could  find  a  tempo- 
rary home  in  their  goings  to  and  from  the  field  of  battle.  Recep- 
tions were  held,  all  manner  of  stores  provided  in  connection  with 
the  Christian  and  Sanitary  Commissions,  and  the  comfort  of  the 
soldiers  looked  after  in  all  possible  ways. 

In  September,  1864,  the  Woman's  National  League  sent  four 
young  ladies,  Alice  M.  Dodge,  Sarah  D.  Hurd,  Mary  Hansel, 
and  Flora  Day,  with  Mrs.  Isaac  Underhill  as  chaperon,  to  De- 
catur  to  take  charge  of  a  booth  at  the  Sanitary  Commission  Fair 
held  in  that  city. 

On  their  arrival  at  the  station  in  Decatur  it  was  raining  and 
only  one  carriage  was  there  and  in  that  but  one  occupant — a 
gentleman.  As  there  were  five  ladies,  it  looked  hopeless  for  them. 
Miss  Hurd,  a  bright,  vivacious  blonde,  turning  to  her  companions 
thoughtlessly  remarked  and  never  dreaming  she  might  be  heard : 

"That  gentleman  might  get  out  and  let  us  have  the  carriage; 
he  could  ride  with  the  driver." 

No  more  than  said,  the  gentleman  jumped  out,  saying,  "Cer- 
tainly, Miss." 

On  their  way  to  their  destination  the  carriage  stopped  before 


THE  WOMAN'S  NATIONAL  LEAGUE  OF  PEORIA          253 

a  beautiful  home  and  the  gentleman  alighted.  Stepping  to  the 
side,  he  said,  "Ladies,  my  carriage  is  at  your  service  to  take  you 
wherever  you  wish  to  go." 

Imagine  their  consternation  at  finding  it  was  a  private  car- 
riage ! 

The  next  morning  at  the  Fair  Grounds  the  young  ladies, 
dressed  in  white  with  blue  silk  caps  ornamented  with  gilt  stars 
and  gold  cords  and  tassels  and  wearing  long  silk  scarfs  of  red, 
white,  and  blue  over  their  shoulders  with  the  word  Peoria  in  gilt 
letters  on  them,  were  approached  by  a  gentleman  who  inquired  if 
that  was  the  Peoria  booth.  The  young  ladies  quickly  stepped  for- 
ward and  he  said,  "I  should  like  to  have  the  pleasure  of  taking 
by  the  hand  the  young  lady  that  is  not  afraid  to  speak  her  mind 
and  invite  General  Oglesby  to  give  up  his  carriage." 

Then  they  learned  that  they  were  being  addressed  by  none 
other  than  the  Honorable  Richard  Yates,  Governor  of  Illinois. 

The  incident  although  greatly  regretted  brought  them  much 
attention  and  unusual  sales.  After  several  days  spent  at  Decatur, 
the  committee  returned  to  Peoria  with  $235  to  give  to  the 
Woman's  National  League  for  the  relief  of  the  soldiers  as  the 
following  report  shows : 

The  committee  from  the  woman's  National  League  to  the  Sanitary 
Fair  at  Decatur  thankfully  acknowledges  the  following  donations : 

Mr.  E.  Erler,  silver  spoon  holder ;  Mr.  Morse,  set  silver  forks ;  Mr. 
Richmond,  silver  napkin  ring ;  Mr.  Strickler,  one  large  book ;  Mr.  Geo. 
Bacon,  photographic  album,  prayer-book  and  pencil ;  Messrs.  Simoneau  & 
Colburn,  three  boxes  perfumery ;  Mr.  P.  S.  Shelly,  hair  tonic  and  perfum- 
ery ;  Wm.  Davis,  two  toilet  bottles  and  piano  brush ;  Dr.  Miles,  one  basket 
and  one  box  champagne;  Dr.  Headly,  two  bottles  perfumery;  Messrs. 
Thurlow  &  Bunn,  $4 ;  Mr  Weiss,  Japanese  basket ;  Mr.  R.  D.  McClure, 
Britannia  set;  Mr.  Hill,  printing;  Mrs.  Prescott,  artificial  flowers;  J.  W. 
Johnson,  $5;  H.  E.  Howe,  $2;  Isaac  Underbill,  $i ;  Mr.  Bishop,  $i ;  Messrs. 
Noyes,  Day  &  Co.,  Johnston  &  Coskery,  P.  C.  Bartlett,  H.  Wilber,  A. 
Frank  and  Clark  various  articles.  Kickapoo  Aid  Society,  one  quilt  valued 
at  $25 ;  Miss  Fisher  of  Havana,  one  pair  of  baby  socks ;  Miss  Nellie  Max- 
well, one  large  pincushion  and  doll ;  Mrs.  Wm.  Reynolds,  infant's  basket ; 
Mrs.  McClallen,  three  pair  knit  mittens ;  Jacksonville  ladies,  child's  merino 
suit,  six  transparencies,  three  tidies,  several  yards  tatting,  six  bottles 
currant  wine,  toilet  set  and  one  pair  of  slippers. 

From  members  of  the  League,  one  sofa  pillow,  one  mouchoir  sachet, 
two  tatting  collars,  four  toilet  cushions,  two  pair  mats,  two  baby  skirts, 
six  baby  sacques,  three  breakfast  shawls,  two  opera  hoods,  two  needle 
books,  two  work  boxes,  one  watch  case,  two  sets  of  combs,  three  cro- 
cheted collars,  three  pair  crocheted  mittens,  one  large  doll  and  chair,  one 
portfolio,  two  knit  baskets,  two  hanging  baskets,  one  crying  doll  and 


254  SUPPLEMENT 

bedstead,  two  tidies,  eight  knit  wash  cloths,  six  book  marks,  two  pair 
baby  shoes,  two  lace  handkerchiefs,  two  honiton  lace  collars,  twelve  books, 
two  foot  stool  covers,  one  walking  doll,  one  penwiper,  twelve  dollars,  etc. 
Also  Messrs  John  Durham,  Fullerton,  Wm.  Durst  and  John  Kuhn  for 
their  assistance.  Net  proceeds  of  sales  of  the  Peoria  Booth  $325. 

ALICE  M.  DODGE, 

Chairman  of  Committee. 


APPENDIX 


I  am  indebted  to  the  Decatur  Review  of  January  22,  1905,  for 
the  following  list  of  all  grown  up  people  who  lived  in  Decatur 
in  1839.  This  list  was  made  from  memory  by  Mr.  David  Hum- 
mell  of  Lincoln,  who  was  a  former  resident  of  Decatur,  and  is 
verified  by  a  number  of  old  residents. 


Men  with  families  :  3,  Wm.  Webb 
Number  grown  persons  4,  Mr.  Cowan 
6,  Benjamin  Austin 

2,  Dr.  James  Read 

3,  Mr.  Shultz 

2,  Henry  Prather 
2,  Hosea  Armstrong 
2,  Wm.  Cantrell 
2,  N.  Ashby 
5,  Dr.  J.  G.  Spear 
2,  George  Querrey 
2,  Samuel  Nesbit 
2,  Preston  Butler 


2,  J.  Y.  Braden 
2,  George  Galbraith 
4,  Wm.  Kibby 
2,  Kirby  Benedict 
2,  David  Rawles 

2,  James  Pierce 

3,  Hartwell  Robinson 
2,  Thos.  Johnson 

2,  Rolla  White 
2,  Alex  Mahood 
2,  Alfred  Barnwell 


2,  Dr.  Wm.   S.  Crissey     2,  Robert  Johnson 

3,  Mrs.  Duly  &  daughters  2,  Joe  Stevens 

2,  Mr.  Maddox  2,  Capt.  D.  L.  Allen 


5,  Landy  Harrell 
4,  Ross  Elliott 
2,  J.  J.  Peddecord 
2,  Col.  E.  D.  Carter 

2,  Mark  Turner 

3,  Henry  Hummell 
2,  Samuel  McKinley 

4,  James  Nesbit  &  Mother 
2,  R.  Wren 

2,  Rev.  Wm.  Crissey 

2,  Philo  Hill 

4,  Leonard  Ashton 

2,  Wm.  Williams 

2,  James  T.  Montgomery 

2,  Minion  Peddecord 

2,  Dayton  Dunham 


The  single  men  and  the  women  they  afterward  married : 


Samuel   Allen 

Benj.  Dillehunt,  Miss  Nesbit 

J.  J.  Peddecord,  Miss  Adamson 

J.  D.  Tait,  Susan  Spangler 

M.  Elson,  Miss  Sawyer 

E.  McClellan,  Judith  Snyder 

Wm.  Stamper,  Ann  M.  Snyder 

John  Post,  Miss  Kaufman 

Seth  Post,  Miss  Bunn 

Robert  Allen,  Miss  Maddox 

James  Draper 

Wm.  Magles 

Wm.  Condell,  Elizabeth  Packard 

Wash.  Nesbitt,  Miss  Prince 

Dr.  Ira  Curtis,  Jane  Butler 

Champ  Butler 

James  Ashton 

Peter  Palmer 

Anson  Packard,  Miss  Norris 

Edward  Packard,  Miss  Spear 

Mason  Packard 


Dr.  Joseph  King,  Marietta  Packard 

Chas.  Pringle,  Miss  Harrell 

Wm.  Bosworth,  Minerva  Daley 

Benj.  Oglesby 

Willis  Oglesby,  Miss  Glore 

Mat  Bradshaw 

Samuel  Dewees 

Frank  Emerson 

William  Dewees 

Amos  Badkin 

Silas  Packard,  Mary  Sawyer 

Don  Robinson,  Miss  Daley 

Dayton  Dunham,  Marilla  Robinson 

Chas.  Emerson,  Miss  Harrell 

Carl  Bosworth 

E.  O.  Smith,  Harriet  Krone 

Joseph  Dewees 

Helding  Adamson 

Enoch  Gibbs,  Miss  Ashton 

Benj.  Sawyer 

Watt  Culver 


255 


256  APPENDIX 

Jerome  Gorin  married  Miss  Eleanor  Fawcett,  whose  step  father  was 
the  Rev.  Jesse  Walker,  known  among  the  Indians  as  Father  Walker.  It 
was  in  his  house  in  the  village  of  Chicago  that  on  Sept.  26,  1833,  the  lands 
of  the  Pottawatamies,  Ottawa  and  Chippewa  Indians  were  finally  ceded 
to  the  United  States.  This  treaty  included  the  site  of  Chicago,  and  all 
northern  Illinois. 

The  Snyder  family,  who  are  not  included  in  Mr.  Hummell's 
enumeration,  probably  lived  outside  of  the  village.  Aunt  Judy 
Oglesby,  to  whom  half  the  people  in  Decatur  in  1849  seemed  to  be 
related,  was  a  member  of  that  family.  It  was  Aunt  Judy  who 
received  and  cared  for  the  orphan  children  of  her  husband's 
brother,  when  they  were  first  brought  to  Decatur.  In  their  child- 
hood, Mrs.  Henry  Prather  and  Mrs.  J.  J.  Peddecord  shared  her 
motherly  care  with  their  brother  Dick.  Governor  Oglesby,  Mrs. 
Wm.  Stamper  and  Mrs.  Ed.  McClellan  were  also  her  nieces  and 
members  of  her  family. 

Dr.  John  G.  Spear,  whose  wife  was  a  niece  of  Aunt  Judy, 
built  the  tavern  on  the  court  house  square,  which  was  operated 
by  Landy  Harrell.  Dr.  Spear  also  owned  a  drug  store  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  East  Main  Street,  which  has  been  a  drug  store 
corner  for  more  than  seventy  years.  Dr.  Spear,  who  was  born 
on  February  12,  1809,  lived  to  celebrate  his  one  hundredth  birth- 
day and  was  visited  on  that  day  in  his  old  Kentucky  home  by 
many  distinguished  people,  who  were  enroute  to  the  centennial 
celebration  of  Lincoln's  birthday. 

Mrs.  Edward  Packard,  afterwards  the  wife  of  Col.  J.  P. 
Boyd,  was  an  adopted  daughter  of  Dr.  Spear. 

The  Powers  family  are  not  included  in  the  above  enumeration. 
William  Powers,  who  was  a  bachelor,  had  entered  large  tracts  of 
land  in  the  vicinity  of  Decatur  and  his  brothers  George,  Samuel, 
Orlando,  and  Chauncey,  all  lived  in  or  near  Decatur.  His  sisters, 
Mrs.  Lamira  Wilkinson  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Ewing,  were  both  living 
on  the  "Powers,  farm"  at  that  time. 

The  Florey  family,  of  which  Mrs.  Charles  Tuttle  was  a  mem- 
ber, lived  just  east;  and  Isaac  Pugh  and  family  were  located  just 
north  of  town. 

Between  the  years  1839  an^  z^49  there  were  very  few  changes 
in  the  population  of  Decatur.  David  Krone  had  become  the  pop- 


APPENDIX  257 

ular  landlord  of  the  Macon  House.  Of  his  six  daughters,  two 
had  married  Decatur  bachelors.  Harriet  was  Mrs.  E.  O.  Smith 
and  Lydia  was  Mrs.  Shepherd.  Mrs.  George  Bright  and  Mrs.  D. 
S.  Shellabarger  were  the  Misses  Maggie  and  Annie  Krone,  when 
Mr.  Lincoln  used  to  be  a  patron  of  their  father's  hostlery.  Low- 
ell Krone,  the  only  son  of  the  family  is  now,  and  has  been  for 
more  than  fifty  years  a  druggist  in  Decatur. 

Dr.  Rice,  whose  wife  was  a  sister  of  Jerome  R.  Gorin  and  of 
Mrs.  Isaac  Pugh,  was  a  successful  physician  in  1849.  Mrs. 
Giles,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  A.  A.  and  Mrs.  Caroline  Powers,  came 
to  Decatur  in  1847  w^tn  her  son  James,  and  her  daughters  Maria 
and  Ellen.  H.  B.  Durfee  and  Thomas  O.  Smith  were  also  recent 
comers.  With  these  exceptions  the  roster  of  names  given  by  Mr. 
Hummell,  would  serve  as  a  census  of  the  town  in  1849. 

Mr.  Hummell  does  not  undertake  to  give  the  number  of  chil- 
dren then  in  Decatur,  but  he  says  there  were  more  children  to 
each  married  family  than  you  will  find  these  days. 

In  the  list  forty-two  families  are  mentioned.  Perhaps  it  would 
be  reasonable  to  say  there  was  an  average  of  four  children  to  the 
family.  This  just  about  doubles  the  grown  people  given  in  the 
list  and  furnishes  us  a  population  for  Decatur  at  that  time  of  340. 

Almost  every  trade  necessary  to  the  comfort  of  the  people 
found  a  representative  in  Decatur  in  1839.  There  were  lawyers 
and  doctors,  preachers  and  school  teachers,  office  holders  and 
merchants.  There  was  a  shoe  shop  and  a  tailor  shop,  two  wagon 
makers,  two  cabinet  makers,  who  made  pretty  tables  and  chairs 
and  bureaus,  there  was  a  livery  stable  and  two  taverns.  The  mail 
was  carried  on  horseback  from  Terre  Haute  to  Springfield  twice 
a  week.  Silas  Packard  once  had  the  contract  for  carrying  that 
mail.  Before  1849  ^wo  stage  coach  lines  had  been  established. 
One  from  Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  was  a  three  seated  covered 
wagon  on  springs,  and  three  people  were  expected  to  use  one  seat, 
the  other,  the  Terre  Haute  line,  was  more  pretentious  and  had  a 
big  red  coach  body  swung  on  leather  springs,  with  a  "boot"  be- 
hind for  baggage;  these  coaches  came  through  Decatur  twice  a 
week  but  seldom  carried  more  than  two  or  three  passengers  and 
were  not  money  making  institutions. 


258  APPENDIX 

Town  lots  had  very  little  value.  James  T.  Montgomery  bought 
the  lot  on  the  corner  of  East  Main  and  Water  Streets,  80  feet  on 
Water  Street  and  seventy-six  on  East  Main,  for  thirty-five  dol- 
lars. He  also  bought  a  lot  on  South  Main  for  a  hat  and  thought 
he  had  made  a  poor  bargain  because  "there  was  no  taxes  to  pay 
on  the  hat." 

In  1849  Mr.  Montgomery  bought  the  forty  acres  just  north  of 
the  Wabash  railroad  bounded  by  Water  and  Broadway  on  the 
east  and  west,  for  six  dollars  an  acre.  Forty  acres  on  which  the 
depots  now  stand  was  offered  to  Mr.  W.  Martin  in  1851  for  six 
dollars  an  acre.  Martin,  Prather  &  Catling  bought  that  same  forty, 
three  years  later  for  $100  an  acre  and  donated  ten  acres  to  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company. 

There  were  some  remarkable  climatic  phenomena  in  the  early 
days  of  Decatur.  The  "deep  snow,"  from  which  all  early  settlers 
calculated  dates,  occurred  in  the  winter  of  1831  and  1832.  The 
snow  fall  commenced  early  in  November  and  continued  at  short 
intervals  until  the  first  of  April.  Between  storms  the  top  of  the 
snow  would  freeze  hard  and  the  next  strata  fall  and  freeze.  The 
cold  was  intense  and  there  were  weeks  when  the  sun  was  not 
once  visible.  People  were  blockaded  in  their  homes  till  threat- 
ened starvation  compelled  them  to  cut  passageways  to  the  corn 
fields.  Many  families  lived  for  weeks  on  boiled  corn.  One  of 
the  greatest  difficulties  encountered  was  "getting  in  wood"  enough 
to  cook  the  corn.  The  houses  were  so  banked  with  snow  that 
those  inside  did  not  suffer  greatly  from  the  cold.  There  is  no 
record  of  death  from  cold  or  starvation,  but  untold  hardships 
were  endured  by  the  people.  For  years  after  the  "deep  snow" 
game  was  very  scarce  in  Illinois. 

Another  meteorological  event  which  can  never  be  forgotten, 
was  the  "sudden  freeze"  which  occurred  in  January,  1836.  It 
had  rained  all  day  a  cold,  misty,  rain  and  the  mud  in  the  road 
paths  was  a  deep  slush.  About  four  o'clock  in  the  e.fternoon  a 
strong  cold  wind 'from  the  north-west  changed  the  temperature 
in  less  than  fifteen  minutes  from  34  degrees  to  20  degrees,  an 
almost  instantaneous  change  of  fourteen  degrees.  The  misty 
rain  changed  in  a  moment  to  sharp  particles  of  ice,  that  in  the 


REV.  N.  M.  BAKER  TELLS  OF  EARLY  DAYS  259 

fierce  wind  cut  like  needles.  Cattle  and  geese  were  frozen  into 
the  ponds  and  had  to  be  cut  out  of  the  ice.  General  I.  C.  Pugh 
had  left  the  court  house  on  horseback  in  the  rain.  When  he 
reached  the  big  pond  on  Water  street,  just  a  half  mile  away,  the 
water  was  covered  with  long  needles  of  ice  and  in  a  few  moments 
was  frozen  entirely  over  and  before  he  reached  home,  just  north 
of  Pugh  street,  the  ground  was  frozen  solid  enough  to  bear  up 
his  horse.  The  stories  of  this  instantaneous  freeze  seem  almost 
mythical,  but  they  are  all  corroborated  by  many  witnesses. 

REV.  N.  M.  BAKER  TELLS  OF  EARLY  DAYS. 

In  response  to  my  request,  Mr.  N.  M.  Baker,  chaplain  of  the 
One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Regiment,  Illinois  Volunteers,  pre- 
pared the  following  paper,  to  be  included  in  the  appendix : 

I  was  born  and  grew  to  manhood  about  five  miles  east  of  De- 
catur,  and  so  have  seen  both  the  country  and  the  town  grow  from 
very  crude  beginnings  to  that  which  they  now  are.  My  parents 
saw  the  Commissioners  looking  over  the  country  in  search  of  a 
location  for  the  future  county  seat,  and  they  were  very  glad  when 
the  site  was  finally  chosen  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  for  they 
had  not,  at  that  time,  been  able  to  enter  their  land  from  the  Gov- 
ernment ;  and  they  feared  that  if  the  town  should  be  established 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river  the  land  near  by  would  be  quickly 
taken  up  by  others,  and  so  they  would  lose  their  cabin. 

The  country  surrounding  Decatur  retained  many  of  the  fea- 
tures of  a  wilderness  even  so  late  as  1848.  Wild  turkeys  came 
into  the  grain  fields  after  harvest,  feeding  on  the  grain  and  grass- 
hoppers that  were  to  be  found  among  the  stubble,  and  in  the  win- 
ter they  often  picked  corn  from  the  cracks  of  the  corn  pens  and 
with  their  strong  feet  tore  away  the  roof  of  clapboards  that 
covered  them. 

There  were  deer  in  the  woods  and  the  prairies,  and  sometimes 
they  came  so  near  to  the  houses  that  they  could  be  seen  from  the 
open  door.  Wolves  lurked  in  the  thickets  and  tall  grass,  and  often 
showed  themselves  openly. 


260  APPENDIX 

In  the  cold,  clear,  frosty  mornings  of  winter,  hundreds  of 
prairie  chickens  would  come  in  from  the  prairie  and  light  on  the 
trees  at  the  edge  of  the  timber,  and  cackle  and  chatter  for  hours. 
In  the  spring  and  in  the  fall  geese,  brant,  and  ducks  of  many 
kinds  and  in  fabulous  numbers  swept  through  the  air,  fed  in  the 
fields,  or  floated  in  the  waters  of  the  river  and  the  ponds ;  and  the 
clear  call  of  the  sand-hill  crane  was  a  familiar  note,  as  he  danced 
on  the  prairie,  or,  high  overhead,  winged  his  way  to  the  farther 
north  in  the  spring,  or  in  the  fall  to  the  everglades  in  Florida. 
And  flock  after  flock  of  wild  pigeons  in  their  semi-annual  flights 
were  so  dense  as  to  cast  a  shadow  like  a  passing  cloud. 

An  occasional  eagle  circled  and  screamed  in  the  upper  air, 
and  I  remember  once  to  have  seen  one  make  its  headlong  earth- 
ward swoop,  and  to  have  heard  the  whistling  of  its  wings  and  the 
startled  outcry  of  a  flock  of  wild  turkeys,  some  member  of  which 
was  its  intended  prey. 

We  still  saw  the  large  pinnated  wood-pecker  as  he  beat  his 
tattoo  on  the  dead  limbs  or  cackled  in  his  jerkey  flight  from  tree 
to  tree.  And  we  looked  with  big  eyes  at  the  Carolina  paroquets, 
clad  in  their  brave  attire  of  green  and  gold,  as  all  the  parrots  are, 
feeding  on  the  wild  cherries,  chattering  and  laughing  to  themselves 
with  the  true  parrot's  voice,  and  often  hanging  back  downward 
as  all  the  parrots  do.  It  may  hardly  be  believed  that  any  of  the 
parrot  family  ever  lived  wild  in  the  woods  of  Macon  County, 
but  I  can  still  prove  the  fact  by  at  least  two  living  witnesses  besides 
myself.  These  semi-tropical  birds  were  the  first  to  disappear.* 
The  wolves  and  wild  turkeys  and  deer  are  gone;  the  water- fowl 
are  seldom  seen  flying  over ;  the  prairie  chickens  are  few  and  far 
between;  the  voice  of  the  crane  is  no  longer  heard.  If  an  eagle 
spreads  his  wings  in  our  smoky  air  he  is  a  wanderer,  tempest 
driven ;  and  the  passenger  pigeon,  once  most  numerous  of  all,  has 
not  only  disappeared  from  Macon  County,  but  from  the  whole 
earth.  Ah  well,  there  must  be  some  loss  as  well  as  gain  when  a 
wilderness  is  transformed  into  cities  and  fields  and  gardens. 

One  of  my  first  distinct  memories  of  things  pertaining  to  the 
outside  world  is  of  hearing  the  political  orators  shouting  "Fifty- 

*Mrs.  Wm.  F.  Martin  says  she  well  remembers  the  flocks  of  parrots  that  fed 
from  her  father's  cherry  trees  when  she  was  a  child. 


REV.  N.  M.  BAKER  TE,LLS  OF  EARLY  DAYS  261 

four  forty  or  fight !"  which  of  course  must  have  been  before  the 
settlement  of  the  Oregon  question.  We  were  ardent  party  men 
in  the  presidential  campaign  of  that  time,  every  boy  of  us.  If  our 
fathers  were  Whigs  we  raised  ash  poles  for  Henry  Clay,  and  if 
Democrats  we  raised  hickory  poles  for  Polk,  and  made  red  stripes 
on  our  flags  with  the  juice  of  poke-berries. 

On  Saturday  morning  my  father  rode  into  town  on  horseback 
and  I  rode  on  the  same  horse  behind  him ;  there  were  what  seemed 
to  me  great  crowds  of  people.  The  first  battles  of  the  Mexican 
war  had  been  fought,  and  the  news  had  just  reached  Decatur. 
There  was  much  excitement  and  the  noise  of  incessant  talking 
so  got  on  my  unaccustomed  nerves  that  I  seemed  to  be  still  hear- 
ing it  for  days  afterward. 

I  have  some  memory  of  the  starting  of  volunteers  from  this 
county  to  that  far-off  seat  of  war,  and  a  much  clearer  memory  of 
their  return.  For  then  a  great  barbecue  was  held  in  their  honor. 
It  must  have  been  somewhere  between  where  the  Central  railroad 
now  is,  and  Johns'  hill,  then  known  as  Foran's  hill.  Long  tables 
were  prepared  of  rough  planks,  at  which  everybody  ate  standing. 
A  pit  was  dug  in  the  ground  in  which  a  fire  was  kindled,  and  an 
ox  roasted  over  it;  and  I  think  old  Black  Ben,  who  must  have 
been  the  first  colored  resident  of  Macon  County,  superintended 
the  roasting.  I  remember  that  the  piece  of  this  ox  that  fell  to 
my  lot  was,  according  to  my  judgment,  rather  rare. 

Colonel  E.  D.  Baker  made  an  address  on  this  occasion,  the 
only  time  I  remember  to  have  seen  him;  but  I  can't  remember  a 
word  he  said.  I  was  more  interested  in  the  long  tables,  and  the 
pit  in  the  ground  where  the  ox  had  been  roasted.  The  real  man- 
ner of  the  roasting  I  had  been  too  late  on  the  ground  to  see.  I 
wonder  how  many  people  are  yet  living  in  Decatur  and  Macon 
County  who  were  at  that  barbecue  ? 

I  have  spoken  of  Black  Ben.  He  was  rather  a  conspicuous 
figure  in  the  early  day,  because  for  several  years  he  was  the  only 
colored  person  the  children  born  in  this  county  had  ever  seen. 
He  lived  by  himself  in  a  log  cabin  near  the  road  which  leads  out 
from  East  William  street  to  the  Spangler  bridge,  between  where 


262  APPENDIX 

the  Brush  College  cemetery  now  is  and  the  top  of  the  bluff  west 
of  the  river. 

That  Ben  was  an  honest  man  I  have  this  evidence.  In  that 
day  there  were  no  fenced  pastures;  all  the  stock  ran  out  and  so 
got  mixed  together.  It  was  needful,  then,  that  every  man  should 
have  a  mark  by  which  he  could  identify  his  own  property.  My 
father's  mark  was  a  crop  and  a  split  in  each  ear ;  that  is,  the  point 
of  the  ear  of  pig  or  lamb  or  calf  would  be  cut  off  straight  across 
and  the  part  left  would  be  split  back  for  an  inch  toward  the  head. 
A  neighbor's  mark  was  an  upper  slope  on  each  ear. 

Now  the  possible  combination  of  cuts  and. splits  and  slopes 
and  under  bits  and  upper  bits  and  smooth  round  holes,  in  one  ear 
or  in  both,  is  well  nigh  endless,  so  that  every  man  could  have  a 
mark  of  his  own  without  trespassing  on  that  of  another.  One  of 
these  marks,  when  recorded  in  the  clerk's  office,  became  a  sort  of 
copyright  or  trade-mark,  and  no  one  else  could  lawfully  use  it. 

Through  ignorance,  Ben  adopted  father's  trade  mark.  Here 
was  a  good  foundation  for  controversy  and  trouble,  and  I  suppose 
father  could  have  complained  and  made  Ben  stop  using  his  mark ; 
but  what  was  the  use  ?  Ben  never  claimed  stock  that  was  not  his 
own,  and  when  father's  hogs  crossed  the  river  and  ranged  in  his 
neighborhood,  which  they  often  did,  he  always  gave  notice  of  the 
fact  and  pointed  out  where  they  had  made  their  beds. 

It  seems  a  little  odd  that  this  man  should  have  been  in  this 
thinly  settled  country  for  so  many  years,  the  only  one  of  his 
race.  I  don't  think  he  was  a  fugitive  from  justice,  and  though 
once,  no  doubt,  a  slave,  he  was  not  in  the  usual  sense  a  runaway. 
This  is  the  story  which  I  have  heard.  His  master  wanted  to  look 
over  the  new  country  with  a  view  to  future  investments,  and  for 
his  own  comfort  he  brought  Ben  along  as  a  body  servant,  trusting 
that  he  would  stay  with  him  either  through  personal  attachment 
or  through  ignorance  of  his  rights. 

But  some  one  whispered  in  Ben's  ear  that,  as  he  had  been 
brought  into  a  free  state  by  his  master's  own  act,  he  did  not  have 
to  go  back  into  slavery  unless  he  wanted  to  do  it;  and  this  black 
man  chose  loneliness  and  liberty,  rather  than  slavery  and  asso- 
ciation with  his  own  race.  And  who  can  blame  him?  He  made 


REV.  N.  M.  BAKER  TELLS  OF  EARLY  DAYS  263 

an  honest  living  for  himself  while  able  to  work,  but  laid  nothing 
by,  and  so  ended  his  days  as  a  county  charge. 

I  remember  the  old  Methodist  Church  and  the  clapboards 
with  which  two  sides  of  it  were  enclosed.  Indeed,  I  remember 
these  clapboards  so  distinctly  that  I  fail  to  remember  the  planking 
on  the  other  two  sides.  And,  by  the  way,  there  was  once  a  debate 
in  that  house  lasting  two  or  three  days,  between  two  ministers, 
a  Methodist  and  a  Universalist,  involving  those  questions  on 
which  these  two  denominations  would  be  sure  to  differ.  There 
were  moderators  to  see  that  each  debater  obeyed  the  rules  agreed 
on,  and  had  his  rightful  time  and  no  more,  and  it  seems  to  me 
that  Dick  Oglesby  was  one  of  these  moderators,  and  that  Seth 
Post  had  something  to  do  with  it  too.  As  an  indication  of  the 
interest  which  the  people  of  that  day  took  in  such  questions,  I 
remember  that  my  father  and  mother  and  all  we  children  were 
faithful  attendants  during  the  whole  time,  driving  in  a  two  horse 
wagon  from  our  home,  five  miles  to  town  and  back  again  daily, 
fording  the  river  each  time,  for  there  was  no  bridge. 

There  was  neither  base-ball  nor  foot-ball  in  those  days,  but 
it  was  the  fashion  to  come  to  town  on  Saturdays  just  the  same. 
There  were  many  contests  among  these  young  men  and  boys, 
foot  races,  wrestling  matches,  jumping,  and  going  "half-ham- 
mon,"  which  was  a  hop,  step,  and  jump.  Another  pastime  in 
which  the  older  men  also  engaged  was  trying  who  could  throw 
a  four-pound  weight  the  farthest.  These  weights  were  thrown 
from  somewhere  between  Main  Street  and  Water  Street,  and  the 
course  was  along  East  Main  Street  as  far  as  possible.  As  nobody 
was  ever  hurt  or  inconvenienced  by  this  pastime,  it  is  evident 
that  the  streets  were  not  full  of  comers  and  goers  as  they  are 
today. 

Among  the  early  industries  of  Decatur,  has  everybody  forgot- 
ten the  old  carding-machine  that  used  to  stand  near  the  branch 
not  far  from  where  the  gas  works  now  are  ?  That  was  where  we 
brought  our  wool,  nicely  washed  and  picked,  with  so  many  pounds 
grease  to  so  many  pounds  of  wool — I  have  forgotten  the  propor- 
tion ;  and  we  took  home  great  bunches  of  long,  greasy  rolls  that 
were  spun  into  thread  on  the  big  wheel  for  our  winter  clothing. 


264  APPENDIX 

The  motive  power  of  this  machine  was  a  yoke  of  oxen  that  slowly 
climbed  an  inclined  wheel  and  never  got  to  the  top  of  the  incline, 
as  it  constantly  turned  them.  This  was  a  nice,  greasy,  smelly 
place  for  the  boys  to  play  in,  and  that  slowly  revolving  wheel 
was  no  end  of  a  wonder. 

I  see  that  you  tell  about  the  spinning  and  weaving  of  woolen 
cloth,  and  even  of  the  carding  by  hand  before  this  machine  was 
set  up ;  and  I  have  seen  my  mother  do  all  of  these  things.  But  is 
it  to  be  supposed  that  we  wore  heavy  wollen  clothing  all  summer  ? 
Not  at  all.  We  sowed  flax,  pulled  it  up  by  the  roots  when  it  was 
ripe,  bound  it  in  bundles,  beat  the  seed  out  with  a  stick  when  it 
was  dry,  spread  the  stalks  out  on  the  meadow  till  they  became 
brittle  in  the  rain  and  the  sunshine,  raked  them  up  and  bound 
them  into  bundles  again.  We  broke  these  stems  up  fine  in  a 
home-made  "break,"  each  bundle  to  itself,  then  "skutched"  them 
with  wooden  knives  to  knock  out  the  bits  of  broken  stems,  hack- 
led them  to  take  out  the  tow,  and  then  the  long  soft  lint  that  re- 
mained was  spun  on  a  little  wheel  and  woven  on  the  home-made 
loom,  and  we  were  clothed  for  the  summer,  if  not  exactly  in  "pur- 
ple and  fine  linen,"  at  least  in  linen  that  was  fine  enough  to  do. 

For  a  good  many  years  there  was  little  difference  between 
Decatur  and  the  country.  Through  the  country  there  was  a  log 
school  house  here  and  there,  and  Decatur  had  just  one  school 
house,  which  was  not  much  better.  There  was  but  little  history 
or  grammar  in  these  schools,  and  not  much  mathematics  beyond 
the  rule  of  three ;  but  they  were  all  strong  on  spelling,  and  there 
was  much  rivalry  as  to  which  school  could  produce  the  best 
speller. 

There  was  a  little  log  school  house  not  far  from  where  North 
Fork  Church  now  stands,  and  there  were  several  excellent  spellers 
in  the  school  held  there,  some  that  could  spell  every  word  in  Web- 
ster's blue-backed  spelling  book,  and  were  very  hard  to  "down" 
with  the  dictionary.  The  Decatur  school  also  was  proud  of  its 
spellers,  and  challenged  this  country  school  to  come  in  and  prove 
by  actual  test  which  was  the  "better  man." 

Of  course  they  came,  in  two  horse  wagons,  Roben,  their 
teacher,  with  them.  Triplet,  the  Decatur  teacher,  marshaled  his 


REV.  N.  M.  BAKER  TELLS  OF  EARLY  DAYS  265 

forces,  and  in  the  midst  of  much  excitement  the  match  was  on. 
Two  cousins  of  mine,  Clementine  Davis  and  William  Davis,  were 
the  acknowledged  champions  of  the  country  school,  and  it  was 
arranged  that  William  should  defend  the  honor  of  the  school 
against  all  comers,  Clementine,  who  was  thought  to  be  the  better 
speller  of  the  two,  being  held  in  reserve  in  case  her  brother  should 
by  any  possibility  miss.  A  few  of  the  smaller  scholars  on  both 
sides  were  permitted  to  spell  first,  but  this  was  mere  by-play. 

When  ready  for  real  business,  William  took  the  floor.  And 
he  proved  to  be  in  "fine  fettle"  that  evening,  for  one  after  another 
of  Decatur's  champions  went  down  before  him  till  there  was  not 
one  left.  And  so  the  country  school  went  home  triumphant,  sing- 
ing that  well  known  song  which  begins  "Oh  were  you  ne'er  a 
school  boy,"  and  contains  somewhere  amidst  its  numerous  stanzas 
these  exquisitely  appropriate  words,  "We  routed  them,  we  scouted 
them,  nor  lost  a  single  man."  I  wonder  if  the  honorable  school 
board  of  Decatur  has  any  knowledge  of  this  bit  of  history  con- 
nected with  what  I  suppose  must  have  been  their  very  first  school 
house. 

Speaking  of  Triplet  reminds  me  that  possibly  he  was  Decatur's 
first  bookseller.  I  know  that  the  very  first  book  I  ever  bought 
I  got  from  him.  He  had  his  stock  in  trade  spread  out  on  a  table 
in  one  of  the  rooms  on  the  first  floor  of  the  old  brick  court  house. 
I  walked  in  and  laid  my  whole  capital,  a  silver  five  cent  piece,  on 
the  table,  and  told  him  I  wanted  a  book.  As  I  had  no  idea  what 
particular  book  I  did  want,  he  gave  me  a  "Rough  and  Ready" 
Almanac,  containing,  in  addition  to  the  usual  matter  of  an  alma- 
nac, a  brief  historical  sketch  of  Zachary  Taylor's  campaign  in 
Mexico.  Probably  it  was  the  only  book  he  could  afford  to  sell 
for  five  cents.  It  was  hardly  an  appropriate  one  for  a  small  boy. 
to  be  sure,  but  I  read  every  word  of  it,  and,  whether  or  not  it 
was  responsible,  I  have  loved  history  ever  since. 

Both  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  Central  Railroads  were  finished 
through  Macon  County  in  the  spring  of  1854.*  My  brother, 
Rev.  W.  P.  Baker  of  Hillsboro,  was  at  that  time  a  resident  of 
Decatur,  and  bore  arms  in  the  interest  of  law  and  order  on  occa- 

*Smith,  History  of  Macon  County,  pp.  206-7. 


266  APPENDIX 

sion  of  the  Dutch  and  Irish  "war"  which  you  chronicle.     I  will 
let  his  statement  supplement  what  you  now  have  on  that  subject. 

You  ask  me  to  write  as  fully  as  I  can  remember  the  circumstances 
attending  the  'scrimmage'  between  the  Irish  and  the  Dutch,  while  working 
on  the  railroads  then  entering  Decatur. 

It  must  have  been  in  the  summer  of  1853.  The  I.  C.  R.  R.  Company 
was  employing  a  number  of  Dutch  on  its  road  in  the  vicinity  of  the  San- 
gamon  river  south  of  town.  The  Great  Western,  as  it  was  then  called, 
now  the  Wabash,  had  a  large  force  of  Irish  at  work  near  Stephen's  creek 
west  of  town.  What  caused  the  disagreement  I  do  not  know.  It  was 
probably  an  exhibition  of  race  Hatred,  influenced  perhaps  by  business  com- 
petition, for  each  road  was  trying  to  get  through  first  so  the  other  would 
have  to  put  in  the  crossings.  At  any  rate  the  Irish  were  vowing  vengeance 
on  the  Dutch. 

After  the  day's  work  was  done, — between  sundown  and  dark,  they 
came  marching  two  abreast  down  Main  street  from  the  west,  I  feel  like 
saying  two  hundred  strong,  but  that  would  probably  be  an  exaggeration, 
each  one  armed  with  a  heavy  club.  The  Dutch,  however,  had  received 
word  of  their  coming,  and  knowing  that  they  were  greatly  outnumbered, 
abandoned  their  shanties  and  came  into  town  seeking  protection.  They 
were  put  in  the  old  Court  House,  and  a  company  that  had  been  organized 
for  military  drill  sometime  before  this,  was  mustered  in  front  to  protect 
them. 

We  numbered,  I  think,  about  forty  strong,  and  as  I  remember  it,  W. 
J.  Usrey  was  in  command  as  captain.  We  were  armed  with  some  old 
smoothbore  Springfield  muskets  that  belonged  to  the  state.  A  few  had 
procured  powder  and  shot  from  the  stores,  but  the  most  of  us  were  with- 
out amunition ;  but  we  had  bayonets  and  therefore  looked  fierce.  Besides 
the  members  of  the  company,  a  number  of  the  citizens  had  armed  them- 
selves with  whatever  came  handy  and  were  also  in  line.  I  remember  dis- 
tinctly seeing  James  Shoaf,  the  editor  of  the  Decatur  Gazette,  in  the  line 
with  a  piece  of  wooden  eave-trough  on  his  shoulder ;  and  as  he  turned 
suddenly  in  obedience  to  some  command  the  back  of  his  trough  hit  Willis 
Johnson  on  the  head  and  knocked  his  hat  off. 

The  Irish,  having  demolished  the  enemy's  shanties,  came  marching 
back,  but  seeing  such  a  formidable  display  of  military  strength,  they  made 
no  halt,  but  marched  straight  on  to  their  own  camp,  and  the  war  was  over. 
These  recollections  of  nearly  sixty  years  ago  may  be  inaccurate  in  many 
respects,  but  the  main  feature  of  the  story  I  am  sure  is  correct. 

Mr.  Montgomery's  description  of  the  old  brick  court  house  is 
very  accurate,  and  it  calls  up  many  memories.  My  father  was  a 
member  of  the  first  grand  jury  ever  impanneled  in  Macon  County, 
and  for  many  years  was  often  required  to  serve  on  one  jury  or 
the  other ;  and  as  I  came  in  with  him  to  take  the  horse  back  home, 
I  became  rather  familiar  with  the  court  room  and  with  the  per- 
sonal appearance  of  actors  in  it. 

There  was  Judge  Treat,  a  tall  slender  man  as  I  remember  him, 
and  after  him  Judge  David  Davis,  a  big  man  then  but  not  quite 


REV.  N.  M.  BAKER  TE,LLS  OF  EARLY  DAYS  267 

so  big  as  he  afterward  became,  when  a  special  chair  had  to  be 
made  for  him  before  he  could  take  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  And  there  was  Benedict;  and  Linder;  and  Lin- 
coln, (at  that  time  as  innocent  of  fame  as  any  of  the  rest  of  them ;) 
and  Thornton;  and  Ficklin;  and  Eden;  and  of  course  Emerson 
and  Oglesby  and  Post  and  others. 

I  have  mentioned  O.  B.  Ficklin,  but  really  I  remember  him 
much  more  distinctly  at  my  father's  house  in  the  country  than 
in  the  court  room.  He  was  a  candidate  for  some  office,  for  the 
Legislature  or  for  Congress,  I  forgot  which,  and  he  was  making 
a  thorough  canvass  of  the  county,  going  from  house  to  house, 
making  himself  agreeable  and  incidentally  of  course  soliciting 
votes.  The  houses  were  scattered  along  the  edges  of  the  timber, 
and  often  far  apart;  what  a  "Weary  Willie"  he  must  have  been 
by  the  time  he  got  over  all  his  district  in  that  way !  But  I  remem- 
ber him  particularly  because  he  was  the  first  man  I  ever  saw 
wearing  black  kid  gloves.  That  a  politician  should  go  among  the 
pioneers  asking  votes,  and  at  the  same  time  wearing  kid  gloves, 
seems  well  nigh  incredible,  and  yet  I  cannot  be  mistaken,  for  I 
observed  with  all  of  a  boy's  curiosity  when  seeing  a  new  thing, 
and  thought  for  a  time  that  it  was  the  natural  color  of  his  hands. 

Kirby  Benedict  was  something  of  a  character,  and  something 
of  an  orator  too.  When  naming  some  opponent  whom  he  espe- 
cially disliked,  he  would  turn  his  face  to  the  left,  throw  a  limp, 
shaking  hand  to  the  right,  the  whole  gesture  indicating  that  he 
was  shaking  from  himself  the  unutterable  contamination  which  he 
had  necessarily  incurred  by  speaking  such  a  name. 

I  had  well  nigh  forgotten  Kirby  Benedict  till  some  years  ago 
I  was  reading  a  history  of  the  Pueblo  Indians  of  New  Mexico, 
and  there  I  found  Benedict's  name  in  strange  association  with  the 
names  of  Indians  and  Saints.  It  seemed  that  one  Indian  village 
had  the  image  of  a  saint  that  was  supposed  to  have  prospered  it 
greatly,  and  another  village,  being  down  on  its  luck,  borrowed 
the  image,  and  was  so  delighted  with  the  result  that  it  refused 
to  give  it  up  again.  And  so  a  suit  for  the  possession  of  the  saint 
came  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Mexico,  of  which  Bene- 
dict was  then  Chief  Justice.  Now  the  idea  of  Kirby  Benedict 


268  APPENDIX 

gravely  passing  judgment,  if  not  on  the  merits,  at  least  on  the 
ownership  of  a  saint,  struck  me  as  peculiarly  funny,  and  I  seemed 
to  see  the  man  as  I  remembered  him  so  many  years  ago,  tall  of 
form,  striking  of  feature,  averted  face,  shaking  hand  and  all. 

There  was  once  a  political  meeting  of  some  sort  in  the  court 
room.  E.  O.  Smith  was  speaking  and  Seth  Post  interrupted  by 
calling  in  question  some  of  his  statements.  Relations  were  very 
much  strained  for  a  moment ;  Post  said  he  had  friends  there  who 
would  back  him,  and  Smith  thundered  back  that  he  didn't  want 
any  backing;  but  at  this  point  oil  was  poured  on  the  troubled 
waters,  and  all  was  peace  again.  Ah,  well  there  was  many  a  wordy 
war  in  that  place. 

Another  and  more  pleasing  image  rises  before  my  mind.  The 
Judge's  seat,  the  little  bar  in  front  of  it,  a  stove  near  the  center 
of  the  room,  the  floor  covered  with  ground  tan-bark  to  absorb  the 
tobacco  juice  and  deaden  the  noise  made  by  many  feet;  Judge 
David  Davis  on  the  bench,  and  outside  of  the  bar,  with  his  back 
to  the  stove  and  his  face  to  the  Judge,  to  whom  he  was  speaking, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  tall,  angular,  never  to  be  forgotten.  I  know 
not  who  else  was  present ;  the  memory  of  these  two  men  might 
well  fill  the  whole  room.  And  with  this  picture  of  a  future  Sen- 
ator and  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  of  a  twice  elected 
President  of  the  United  States,  the  liberator  of  the  slaves,  the 
martyr  for  the  unity  of  his  country,  the  most  revered  of  all  the 
citizens  of  Illinois,  I  think  it  well  to  let  my  memories  rest. 

N.  M.  BAKER, 

August  1 6,  1912. 


?WOF  ILLPNS 

SEP  23  1321 


REVIEW  PRINTING  &  STATIONERY  Co. 
DECATUR,  ILLINOIS 


